


Tiger Millionaire is WHO?!

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bonding, Daddy Kink, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Knotting, Love/Hate, M/M, Mild Language, Past Relationship(s), Secret Identity Fail, Shameless Smut, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-28 17:52:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15712131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Soulmate AU: Every human and gem has a soulmate and is born with a mark on them to identify their other half. Lars is pretty sure to be one of the unlucky people, whose soulmate lives at the other side of the world or even universe. After all, there is no one in Beach City he liked in that way.Well, there is Tiger Millionaire...Plays pre Lars' kidnapping at first and doesn't really follow the canon story-line that much. It will play after his revival as well in later chapters, though.





	1. Uncertainty

**Author's Note:**

> TheIgDemon had the idea for this, so leave them some love as well :) Thanks again from me as well, since I'm not feeling that creative right now. Hopefully this fanfiction will do well!

Lars currently blow-dried his orange hair, making sure it looked just about  _perfect_. It wasn't a special occasion or anything, he was just very keen on looking handsome. The past days had been...  _awful_ , to say the least. Sadie and him had gotten pretty close. They had been friends since first grade or so of course, but he wasn't talking about the platonic kind of  _close_. After a long shift at the Big Donut, Sadie had invited him over to watch some horror movies with her. He had had nothing better to do back then, so he had agreed. Things had gotten a little  _steamy_ , though. After his best friend had been pretty affectionate the days prior, she had proceeded to kiss him. That in itself had not been too bad; he had enjoyed it even. While they had made out on her bed though, Sadie had shoved up his shirt, revealing his  _mark_.

Things had went downhill pretty fast then. The girl had assumed, they were soulmates, not having seen their marks before. Once she had however, she freaked out and more or less told him to  _fuck off_. The marks didn't match one bit. Neither their placement, nor their form did. Hers sat at her chest and looked somewhat like a seal or something to him. His was positioned at the left side of his waist, displaying some kind of flower with vines around it. 

He eyed it right now and sighed in annoyance. He didn't understand, what the big deal was. People got together all the time without having matching marks! Waiting all of one's life for the right person was pure madness- they might never appear! But Sadie had made it  _pretty clear_ she was not interested in him, if he wasn't her soulmate. It didn't break his heart really, but it still  _hurt_. He hadn't fallen head over heels for her luckily, but only ever felt a slight affection for her. 

But if he were completely honest, he'd rather be together with his soulmate as well, than with someone random. He wondered _,_ who  _she_ was. It couldn't be anyone from Beach City- all the girls from there  _sucked_. What if his soulmate lived in China or something? There were websites, that could be used to find her, but they were filthy expensive. So he'd have to save up some more money and then try his luck. But knowing himself, he might even have some stupid  _gem_ as his mate. He could imagine it fairly well- some stupid alien a few thousand light-years away was his true love! He'd never find her! Perhaps he should have given up long ago. This whole romance shit was unrealistic anyway! Only fools believed in finding their soulmate.

Once he finished styling his hair, he put on his Big Donut uniform and went off to work. Seeing his best friend was kind of awkward, but they'd manage. They'd  _have to_. Lars had no real friends besides her and didn't want to loose her because of something this stupid! He hated these dynamics with every day, he didn't find his soulmate. Why couldn't they live in a world without this?

~~Steven's POV~~

Steven meanwhile was far more positive towards all of this. He was currently eating breakfast at home, wondering, who his special someone was! It could have been anyone really. Girl, boy, human, gem... who knew? And it was so exciting to him to search for his mate as well! Only problem was, that it was kind of rude to ask others for their mark to be unveiled. So one kind of had to become at least friends to do so and even then, it was a little weird. The worst thing was, he couldn't even ask Garnet to foretell him, who it was. Sapphire's couldn't see it, sadly. 

Although he had his suspicions.

 _Or rather hopes_.

He rather liked Lars for example. He was just  _plain awesome_! He looked very handsome, was really cute, when he got angry and he was funny! No way it wasn't him. But Lars didn't really like  _him_ all that much and never showed off his mark! And he'd never say yes to showing it.

Steven had only briefly doubted his idea. When he had first met Connie and they had even fused, he had been so sure it was her. But through the fusion, he had seen her mark, which didn't match him at all. 

And there was no one else really, he felt this much admiration for. He had asked all his close friends and the Crystals already, too. He had even feared at one point, his  _own dad_ would be his soulmate, since he and Rose had been. He technically  _was_ Rose after all. But no, his dad had shown him his mark. It kind of looked like a diamond for whatever, morbid reason. It also had a scar running through it, indicating Greg's soulmate was dead.

The level of funny feelings, he had for Lars were kind of a dead give-away for them being mates, too. He should know- he had read tons of info on websites on the topic! But Laramie should be feeling this, too...

Perhaps he just didn't show it, because Steven was two years younger than him? It must have been. He knew the human deemed him uncool, as he was only fourteen. Also, Lars liked his secret alter-ego pretty well and didn't know, how old he was! He loved Tigre Millionaire! So maybe he just had to give the other a little nudge towards the right direction? He  _could_ abuse Tigre Millionaire and see, if he could  _seduce_ he other. That couldn't be too hard, now could it? All those dating shows on TV and romance movies told him so. He'd only have to wait a few days for the Underground Wrestling to start. 


	2. It's all lies!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dream comes true for Lars: Tigre Millionaire speaks to him and goes even much further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope we're all on the same page, that Lars really doesn't get, who Tigre Millionaire is. 
> 
> This plays before Tigre Millionaire stops wrestling and is mean to Lars.

~~A Few Days Later, Night~~

He knew fighting was kind of unfair. Steven was far stronger than any human his age and height had any right to be, after all. He didn't come close to Garnet's or Pearl's strength yet, but he was a fair match for Amethyst. The two of them were currently standing opposite of two other wrestlers, ready to beat each other up a little. This was of course fun and all, but his real target laid elsewhere. The orange haired teenager was standing near the ring, cheering for him. It made his heart beat just a little faster from anticipation and his mild crush. It gave his contender a chance to hit him though, pulling him out of his thoughts. 

"Whoo! Go Tiger!" Barriga happily called and hoped his favorite fighter would win. Everyone could hate him as much as they wanted- he didn't care! He loved watching him fight and his costume was plain spectacular! Tiger was also pretty cruel and cool. He was by far the best fighter there was! He watched on in awe, as the Puma and Tiger beat up one after the other of their foes. As always, time flew by here and the event was over too soon. He sighed and went outside, intending to go home. It had been a nice relief from his problems with Sadie and other stuff, but all good things had to end at some point. He was also a little tired, as he had stayed up all night yesterday. But then the unexpected happened.

While exiting the event and wanting to walk home, someone suddenly patted his shoulder and greeted him. He turned around, not being certain, who it was. "T-Tiger Millionaire?" his eyes grew wide. He must have been dreaming! How could he be so lucky? Tiger never approached the audience like that!

"The one and only~" he  _purred_ and winked at him. "I see you're still wearing my tie; can't afford anything else, hm?" Steven teased and chuckled. He had thrown it towards the audience at one point and Lars had kept it ever since.

He blushed mildly and stuttered "Y-Yeah, right. W-What are you doing here by the w-way?" Sadie, who had accompanied him as always, stood a little further off. She shook her head and snorted, but she probably was just  _jealous_! 

"Oh  _you know_ , looking after my  _special fan_ ~" he chuckled, being a little brave from all the adrenaline of the fighting. 

"S-Special fa-fan?!" Lars gasped and couldn't believe it! He hadn't thought, Tiger would ever acknowledge his dedication.

"That's right!  _Loyalty_ pays off! Not that you could get any of my money from the coconut mines,  _of course_! But how about we have some fun together?" he cooed, giving his best at staying in character. He technically already was out of character, since Tiger would  _never_ be this friendly, but whatever. He saw he had just made Lars' day by his look. Perhaps he should just stop being Steven and be Tiger Millionaire all the time? Then he would surely grow on the human in no time...

He felt like fainting. 'I-Is he asking  _me_ on a...  **date**?! It can't be! I'm not even gay! But if I say no, I might never get this chance again-' Lars thought in conflict. "I-I'd love to! What d-do you have in, uh, mind?" he agreed to it then. Maybe he was just being silly and he had misinterpreted this anyway. 

He hadn't thought this far ahead! "Hm~ W-Why not... go grab something to eat? All that fighting made me hungry, even if they never stood a chance! What do you say,  _cub_?" he quickly came up with something.

Lars shakily agreed, reddening again at the nickname. This was so surreal! He shouldn't even be reacting like this! 'T-This is just his personality, he isn't into you,  _you idiot_!' he scolded himself mentally and followed his idol. They went to Fish Stew Pizza and inside. While he sat down on Tiger's demand, the other quickly and intently whispered  _something_ to Kofi.

"Do  **not** tell him, ok?" Steven begged the old man for his cooperation, slipping him a few dollars.

"Why? I-Isn't it  _obvious_?" Kofi stared at him in utter disbelief. 

"Apparently not," the hybrid shrugged and went back to Lars.

"Ah, sorry about that~ Just had to make sure, he wouldn't serve us  _crap_ ," he rolled his eyes in 'annoyance'. Lars told him, it was alright and sheepishly looked anywhere, but him. Kofi came and took their orders, lightning a candle on their table. Now Laramie got really uncertain about the nature of this evening. Jenny came in then and giggled, but the man told her to go away, before she ruined it. He had made more money this evening, than in the whole past month already! "So, hehe~ Say,  _cub_ , what do you do outside of watching wrestling?" Steven purred seductively, using every skill out of his romance novels. He had even shape-shifted his  _vocal cords_ , so he could have a deeper voice! 

Lars was more or less constantly blushing like a girl right now. He didn't know, how to feel! He wasn't  _gay_ \- He shouldn't have butterflies trashing around in his stomach! But he loved his idol so much somehow... it was kind of concerning. He shyly answered "O-Oh, I go to s-school and work at the Big Donut! N-Not much else, though. A-And you?" He wanted to know, who the other was so bad! Even if he doubted, someone this cool could come from Beach City.

"Hmm, wouldn't  _you_ want to know~ Perhaps I'll tell you, if you play nice," he purred again. Telling him and giving him hints wouldn't work. He could do so, once he saw his mark! Soon their pizzas came and they ate in silence for a while, before chatting about boring stuff.  _This just wouldn't do_. "If I may be so bold, what do you like so much about me, hm?" he wondered.

The human didn't want to answer at first, finding it embarrassing. Millionaire's unrelenting, cold gaze motivated him though "Uh, you're just way  _cooler_ than the others a-and  _strong_. You're also rich and your costume's handso-  _nice_." He hadn't meant to slip up and Tiger had certainly noticed. He could tell by his grin.

"Oh? What was that? Hand _some_ , huh? Why, thank you~ If you weren't already my favorite fan, you would be now,  _sweetheart_ ," he chuckled deeply, hoping it would affect Lars. It apparently did, as the older boy excused himself to go to the toilet and fled.

'Oh stars...' he panicked, leaning against the cold, slightly dirty tiles of the toilet. His heart beat so fast, it almost made him sick. In a good way, however. It was undeniable, Tiger Millionaire was aggressively flirting with him-

"Barriga? Did you run away from your, date?" Jenny suddenly chuckled, entering the room as well. She had wanted to refresh her make-up, but this was far more interesting.

"T-Tiger isn't my  _date_!" he whined then in dismay, pouting slightly. Why did she have to come now?

Tiger? Lars really had no idea, had he now? Well, she enjoyed watching this, so she wouldn't enlighten him. "Oh  _come on_! That little guy is pretty into you and you're no better either!" she chuckled and he wanted to flee. She sighed mentally 'I'll have to help that fool along a little or he'll die a virgin!' She went up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder to ground him "Lars, don't be ashamed.  _I_ think the guy is awesome, too.  _Just go for it_! I mean, he's rich as fuck. Even if he isn't your type, that's pretty convincing."

"B-But I'm not gay, Jenny!" he angrily growled, trying to push her off. Great; tomorrow everyone would know of this! Jenny always  _love_ _d_ to gossip.

She shrugged "Who cares? Just experiment a litte and if you don't like it, tell him to go away. You can at least  _give him a chance_." He seemed to contemplate it a little and then nodded slightly. She laughed "Now go and have some fun for once- You're too worried all the time!" He then left the bathroom with new confidence. While reapplying her lipstick, she thought 'I should demand money for this. Hm... But they are  _kinda_ cute together. Hope, it works out.'

Steven was momentarily worried, his date had vanished through the bathroom's window, but he came back after some minutes. "Mmh, there's my favorite fan~" he leaned back in his seat, licking over his lips. He was lucky, Lars seemed to have a soft spot for dominant, slightly evil men. No wonder, he wasn't into Steven...

Lars sat down, having decided to go along with this and see, where it would lead him. 

They had finished their pizzas in the meantime, but Kofi brought them a sweet dessert. Tiger gave him a few dollars, showing of his wealth to Lars with a smirk. "Say, I saw you with that one, blonde girl at the ring... Is she your girlfriend?" Steven wanted to know. He would not advance this, if she were. He couldn't do this to Sadie. Tiger would, but not him.

"Oh, S-Sadie? N-No, we're just friends. Well, we almost went further once, but we weren't soulmates... S-She d-didn't want to then. Not, that I mind much. W-Why do you ask?" he didn't like talking about it, but Millionaire could not have known.

'Oh, thank the stars!' he mentally celebrated it, even if it was slightly mean. He leaned in a little closer, resting his arms on the table, before flirting "I may be cruel, but I'm no  _monster_... Wouldn't wanna steal a girl's man, you know? Hehe~"  Were he Steven right now, he could never say theses things. But his alter-ego helped him greatly.

"A-And are you...  _you know_ , available?" the human insecurely asked. Surely  _everyone_ would want the wrestler for themselves! He must have had so many people to choose from. Why would he ever choose him?

'Yes! He finally took the bait,' Steven cheered internally at his success. He drawled "I'm  _all yours_ , baby~" He really prayed, he wasn't overdoing it and Lars got weirded out. 

"A-Am I now?" he didn't know, how to react. He had never dated before. He had had made out with Sadie, but it all had just kind off  _happened_. He ate the remains of the dessert and Tiger motioned for Kofi.

Steven pulled out his wallet and paid for the whole meal, although Lars tried to prevent it. "Oh no, sweetheart. I  _invited_ you," he chuckled and gave the old man a tip, who then thanked him profusely. 'Welp, there goes my last cash for this month. Dad's gonna kill me,' he noted. Dating was pretty expensive. He the proposed "Why don't we take this somewhere else? Go for a walk perhaps?" 

Lars felt a little anxious, but agreed nevertheless. He enjoyed being spoiled far too much. When they were outside, the smaller  _man_ hooked an arm around his lithe waist and they went for a walk on the beach. His heart seemingly missed a beat. It was pretty late, probably around midnight. 

Steven was on cloud nine. Even if Lars turned out not to be his soulmate, he still enjoyed this immensely. He led them to a nearby bench, that was somewhat secluded. There they sat down, Tiger not letting go of the other's waist. He felt so warm and soft beneath his slightly chubby fingers. Best thing was, the human let it happen and seemingly relaxed into the touch. He chuckled darkly "You're really  _handsome yourself_ , you know?" He continued his flattery, idly drawing circles into the other's side. If they were soulmates, his mark would be there on his left side. He prayed it was...

"Y-You really think so? T-Thank you..." he was quite surprised and slightly put of by having his mark caressed. He always gave his best to look good, but still felt insecure about it. But if his stylish idol told him that, it must have been true... 

Steven turned a little, facing Lars a more and letting his hand rub along the other's back. "Yeah... So much so, even I couldn't ever bring up the cash to buy you~" he winked.

"Buy me? I don't t-think, you have to do that..." he went along with it, although his heart was beating like crazy and he blushed. He would have never thought, he'd ever get this close to a man... Life was full of surprises, it seemed.

The gem got impossibly closer, invading the other's personal space extensively. He purred seductively "Is that so, hm? Why so?" He loved teasing his crush! His blush was too cute to ignore. 

He got himself to look at his wrestler, loosing himself in the black eyes. "Because...  _you_ can have me for free any time~" he tried to be a little sensual himself. This was the scariest thing, he had ever done... He saw Tiger Millionaire grinning at that and his second hand suddenly lay on his thigh. He barely had time to process, what was happening though, as the wrestler leaned in closer- 'WOW! Is he...? Oh stars, yes he is! What should I do?! L-Lean in, too, or...? This is-  _oh_...' his mind went haywire, but it all suddenly stopped with soft lips claiming his. The other's mask tickled a little, but other than that? He mewled softly, as Tiger loomed over him and the hand on his thigh gripped a little firmer into his flesh-  _a little more demanding_. He couldn't do much, but kiss back that sinful mouth, grasping helplessly at the other's shirt.

It all too soon stopped however, the two running out of breath. The secret wrestler purred, stroking the other's cheek "You're selling yourself short, baby~." This had been Steven's first kiss and he had loved every second of it. A small pang of guilt made itself known however, since he was tricking Lars into this...

Instead of saying anything, Lars demanded to be kissed again. Who knew, if this was a one-time-thing? This experimentation... he kind of  _liked it_. 'Great... Guess I'm bi then, whatever,' he concluded. The secret gem pulled at him greedily, like he had seen in the movies. Soon, the taller teen sat on his lap, encircling his neck. He himself pulled Lars closer by his middle, making out with him. He got a little bolder, fully emerged in his alternate persona, and let his tongue force it's way into the hot mouth. The human didn't know, what to do at first, but soon let him in with a moan. Being high on hormones, he whimpered between kisses "Nngh- I love you, Tiger..." 

Steven gladly replied "I love you more,  _cub_." Lars loved Tiger, but not Steven... 'At least something, I guess,' he drowned out the worries however. They kissed for a while longer, until Lars was utterly out of breath. Steven proceeded to go for his neck then, marking him as  _his_. 

"T-Tiger~" Lars shakily gasped at having his neck assaulted. He couldn't just  _do that_! Only mates did... but his reason flew out the window, when his throat was bitten into. 

Steven apologetically licked at the hickey, before letting go completely, only holding the other. "Had to show my claim, didn't I?" he licked his lips and purred.

He could see Lars thinking for a while, before the older one sheepishly wanted to know "A-Are we... Are we uh  _b-boyfriends_ now?" He wasn't just a toy for the cruel, but hot wrestler, was he? Although he didn't mind to be toyed with, if he got to kiss the other again...

The  _Rose Quartz_ gently caressed the other's abused bottom lip with a finger, before cooing "I sure hope we are, sweetheart. Wouldn't want it to be any other way..." He could feel Lars getting all happy and excited and he was, too- ' _Shit_! If he gets too carried away, he'll fuse us on accident and he'll find out!' he panicked slightly, as he felt the pull of fusion on him. He coughed awkwardly, looking at his watch "Oh! I'm sorry to say this, baby... But I have to go home now."

"W-What?! No! Please don't..." Lars whimpered and tried to fight being pulled out of the lap. Tiger assured him though, that there was no other way. "F-Fine, but... C-Can I at least have your number? I-I want to meet you again soon!" he demanded then, gripping at the other's shirt. He was so scared now, he was nothing more than a groupie to the other. What if his admiration had been abused?

Steven had planned ahead to his luck, having taken Pearl's phone with him. She didn't use it anyway and it only got lost in her gem! He gave him the number and pulled him in by his waist one more time, kissing him hotly. "Now, be a good little  _cub_ and go home. We'll meet soon, I promise," he purred and left, making sure to not go directly to his house.

 


	3. Enjoying his sugar daddy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lars gets drunk on his idol's attention, falling more and more for him.
> 
> Tiger Millionaire has more and more problems to keep his identity hidden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww, I feel so bad for Lars myself :( 
> 
> Thanks for the love for this fic! It's exactly, what I need right now!

~~The Next Day~~

What has he done? Steven was pretty guilt ridden, as he entered the Big Donut. He didn't want to, but it would only cause suspicion, if he abandoned his daily ritual. He saw Lars having a dreamy look on his face, smiling for once, while he rested his head on a hand. Sadie looked at him, as if she was going to murder him  **right there on the spot**. "H-Hey Lars, why so happy?" he innocently asked.

"Oh... Let's just say, I met someone very  _special_ ," he cooed, uncharacteristically friendly. He couldn't bring up the willpower to keep his cool face, he was too busy thinking about his boyfriend. Steven then ordered his usual donuts.

The gem sheepishly went on prying "Yeah? Who is it?" He would normally do so as well.

"Hm... Can't tell you; I don't know myself," he giggled dumbly and gave Steven his donuts. 

Sadie barely contained herself, but then hissed "Steven. Behind the store.  **NOW**!" She jumped over the counter, grabbing his arm and pulling him with her. The oldest teenager frowned a little, but didn't care in the end. 

" **What did you do to him**?!" she growled and roughly pushed him into the Big Donut's wall. When he told her he had no idea, what she was talking about, she snapped more "Why is my best friend a love-sick mess after 'Tiger Millionaire' went off with him?! Don't play dumb on me; everyone besides  _him_ knows, you're Tiger!"

He began whimpering "I-I...We're kinda...  _boyfriends_ now... Well, Tiger and him are."

" **Boyfriends**? Are you crazy? How can you do this to him? You knew, he admires Tiger Millionaire and abused it!" she felt like beating him up currently. She loved Lars as a friend and wouldn't allow him to be tricked like that. Hell, she had been about to sleep with him before!

He shied away a little, trying to defend himself "T-There was no other way! I... I really  _do_ love him, Sadie. B-But he hates  _me-_ Steven! He won't find out, I promise!" He didn't do this to hurt the orange-haired boy! He just wanted to be with him so bad...

"A-And that's your solution?! Y-You trick him into it? If he doesn't like you, you have to accept it-" she tried to get some sense into him. Lars would break, if he found out about this. When the teen trusted someone, he could open up  _so much_ and be plain lovely to his friends. If Steven abused this and he found out, he might never do so again!

"But I'm sure, he does deep down! He... He only thinks I'm uncool, since I'm 14! A-And I kinda think, he's my soulmate-" he tried desperately to explain. 

She stilled for a few seconds. Then she laughed like a maniac. "Oh, his  _soulmate_? Tsk, don't we  _all_ think that? You know what? Just a week ago, he kissed  _me_ , as we thought the same!  **We weren't**!" she calmed down again, pushing him into the wall again. This time, she kept her hand on his chest. A clear threat.

"Y-You saw his mark- W-What does it look like?!" he pleaded her to tell him. She could solve everything and he could stop this early!

" _Find out yourself_ and go through the same pain, I did. That's what you get for betraying him like that," she growled. Universe would  _suffer_ for this, so he would hopefully learn a lesson. As if they were soulmates! They didn't fit together one bit.

His eyes grew wide at her cruelty, expecting even more of it "No, please! D-Don't tell him-" 

"I won't. You can do that yourself and have him break down in front of you! Just so you know; mating doesn't work, as long as there is dishonesty between you two. So have fun explaining to him, why he can't mate Tiger Millionaire, _if_ you really are his soulmate," she added, hoping he'd solve this mess on his own  _now_. She went inside then to her oblivious best friend. 'Sadie, this isn't your mess to deal with anymore...' she told herself and considered the matter closed with it. She'd of course console her friend, once everything broke apart.

Steven slid down the wall behind him, feeling lost. 'What did I do? I can't just break up with him! If he finds out it's me, he'll hate me! But if I don't, it's equally as bad... I have to see his mark,' he thought. All options were awful! 

~~Some Time Later~~

Steven sat on his couch, stuffing ice-cream into himself. He had fucked up and he knew it. He had no more time to think however, as he received a message on Pearl's phone and had to check:

 

 

> "Millionaire?"
> 
> "Hey, baby. Miss me already ;) ?"
> 
> "Yes :( Can we meet today?"
> 
> "Sure. Where?"
> 
> "My place? My parents aren't home..."
> 
> "Oh... For how long and where is that? Wouldn't want anyone walking in on us ;3"
> 
> "North of town, wait for you at porch. You literally can't miss it. 8 pm or so. Were you planning something...?"
> 
> " _Always_ , sweetheart. Should be there in 20 min."
> 
> "<3"

He would go to hell for this. But Lars was so  _happy_! Steven had never seen him or text like this before! He'd just had to keep his identity hidden forever... should be easy, right? He ran upstairs to get his costume, putting it on hastily. When he went downstairs, he ran into a brick-wall.

"Steven," the brick-wall said, unveiling itself as Garnet. 

"G-Garnet, hey! H-haven't seen you in a while, huh?" he awkwardly laughed. "I  _really_ need to go now," he tried to get away, but the fusion pulled him from his feet by his shirt. 

She neutrally stated "If you go, you'll only make it worse for him. Ignore him and he'll never find out." She knew of course, what Steven had been doing yesterday. It scared her.

"I-Ignore him? It'll break his heart! What's the worst, that could happen?" he struggled against her hold in vain.

"He'll die," she foretold darkly, but Steven thought, she was only trying to scare him off.

He shook his head "I know what I'm doing! L-Let go! I just need to see his mark, then I'll stop this!" He'd never know otherwise!

"Steven,  _don't_ ," Garnet tried to convince him to no avail. She saw he had already made his mind up. She let him go then, seeing no use in even trying. The control over the future slipped out of her hands like water and she could do nothing, but watch on. She should have reacted earlier...

~~At Lars' Home~~

Lars leaned against the front door, awaiting his boyfriend. Steven was pretty lucky he knew the way by heart, but still came too late on purpose. When he approached the taller one, he cooed "Hey, baby~ Sweet home, even if it doesn't come close to my  _palace_."

"Hey," he greeted him back and wanted to unlock the door. He was stopped however, as Tiger embraced him, pushing him into said door. "N-No, people will see us," he whined sheepishly, but still couldn't resist letting himself be smooched. Steven had his tongue in his mouth in no time, pushing at him pretty demandingly. He softly mewled, being helpless to the administrations. Millionaire could do literally anything to him and he would oblige. He didn't know why, but he loved submitting to the other somewhat. 

"I  _want_ them to see, love~" he giggled, but showed some mercy. He let go of the other, allowing him to open the door. Steven went inside, pretending to be amazed. He knew Lars' home in reality, but he shouldn't show it. "So, what are we gonna do, hm?" he smirked, letting a hand run down the human's back soothingly. 

"Well... we could go upstairs and watch some movies or play some games. Or... uh-" Barriga blushed a dark crimson red. "I, uh, could  _cook_ for you, if you wanted me to," he insecurely proposed, looking away from his boyfriend. He never cooked for others, not even his own parents. But for Tiger, he'd make an exception. 'Gosh, I sound like a  _fucking_ girl..." he bitterly thought. Perhaps it wasn't healthy to worship his favorite wrestler like that...

Steven was in awe; he knew Lars could cook pretty well, but was afraid of showing it. This was a pretty big deal and only made him feel worse about his lying. Nevertheless he purred "Hard choice, why not everything?" Lars shakily nodded, anxious of showing off his skills. They went into the kitchen and he started making a quite elaborate and seemingly difficult dish. The gem watched on wanting to devour more than just the food. 

"Where do you live by the way?" Lars made some small talk, since he knew almost nothing of his boyfriend.

He sharply inhaled-  _not good_. "If I tell you that, you'll find out, who I am! Can't have that, baby," he nervously told him.

The human turned around them, stopping cutting vegetables "But... you said you would tell me, if I behaved well..." And he had done so, he was certain! Why didn't Millionaire trust him?

He had to come up with something,  _quick_. "Uh- Oh, that's right of course. Wow, one really can't trick you,  _huh_? Pretty sharp, I must say... Well, I live on a farm  _waaaay_ out of town," he began sweating profusely.

"But you were here in 20 minutes?" the orange-haired one furrowed his brows.

"Oh! Yeah... You see, I was in town anyway a-and went... shopping!" he would have to be more careful in the future! 

He felt bad for prying so much and being distrustful, but he was so excited to get to know the other more! "And, how old are you? What's your real name? Please Tiger, you can trust me!" he pleaded with sad eyes. 

"You're pretty curious, hm? But if you  _have_ to know... My real name is...  _Gustav_! A-And I'm 18-" he started saying.

"-18? No way, stop bullshitting me!" Lars declared and Steven had a mini heart-attack. "You're  _way_ older than that! Like... 20-something!" he pointed out. He was fairly good in judging people!

The Quartz died a little inside at hearing the pure obliviousness of his boyfriend. "You got me, hehe~ I'm 24 actually. That doesn't concern you at all...?" he got a little worried.

"Nah, not really. So... what do you work as? Those millions must come from somewhere~" he cutely snorted, happy at getting to know the other. He then put the vegetables in a pan.

Did he actually think, he was rich? 'Oh stars, please no...' he was astounded at Lars' naive behavior, even if it was adorable. "Oh, my dad was rich. When he died, I got all his wealth. Now I just...  _live on my farm_ , relax and occasionally wrestle!" he weakly laughed. Lars would kill him, when he found out. Perhaps he should just have 'Gustav' die in an accident at the ring beforehand? Lars would be super sad, but at least he wouldn't end Steven. To his joy, Lars stopped prying and soon got him some sort of Chinese food with noodles and vegetables. He tasted it and exclaimed "That's really, really good, cub!"

"T-Thanks..." he smiled somewhat. Other than that, he awkwardly sat at the table as well, eating his own meal. He was so sure, it didn't taste good. He played it down then "But I'm sure, you eat far fancier food normally... I-It's not  _that_ good."

Millionaire had his hand in his hair suddenly, firmly combing through it "Selling yourself cheaply again, baby? Trust me, you could cook at a five star restaurant!  _I_ should know, since I've visited enough of them, hehe~" The poor human blushed at it, not believing him at all. After they finished, Lars dutifully put away the plates. He never got that polite usually, but this was  _Tiger_! He probably was used to much higher standards...

He then took the other's hand and led him upstairs to his room, which he had even  _tidied_ up. Millionaire really meant the  _world_ to him. He knew something was up with that, but was too afraid to have it confirmed. This was usual soulmate-behavior... Nearly whorshipping the other, loving them so much out of nowhere, thinking of them every second? But what would he tell his parents? 'Hey, I met this way older, illegal wrestler- he's my mate and your son-in-law now!' perhaps? They would  _kill_ Gustav! He better not think of it now though. 

Steven waited for Lars to pick a movie then, already sitting on the other's bed. When the other had put in a horror movie, he worried. He got fairly easily scared of those, which didn't fit in with Millionaire's persona at all! He'd have to distract himself... Once Lars laid down as well, he was immediately on him. He pulled at the 'younger' boy, so he would sit in his lap and he could encircle his slim waist. Lars seemed to tense shortly, but then relaxed into the hold, stroking the hands around his stomach. 

Steven didn't enjoy the movie at all, since it was for adults and not teens. He somehow managed to not flinch any time, where someone was brutally murdered, but hid his face in the human's hair. Once the movie was nearly over, he nervously stated "Sweetheart, I never could have thought, you'd like this sort of thing..."

"W-Why not? H-Horror movies are cool..." he tried to defend himself. Was Tiger thinking, this wasn't suitable for him? 

"Well... You are just very  _sweet_ and all; it doesn't really fit you," Millionaire tried his best to get Lars to not watch these horrible movies. At least not with him.

He didn't know, how to react. He whimpered "S-So you don't think, I'm cool...?" The wrestler would know, since he himself was so amazing. 

"No, you're  _very_ cool, baby. Perhaps not as  _cool_ as me, but still~ But that doesn't mean, you can't be my adorable cub, too," he chuckled deeply. He enjoyed giving Lars those silly nicknames far too much. Or perhaps only Tiger Millionaire did? It was difficult to say, what was only a facade... Even for himself!

He snorted, while his boyfriend had his hands wander over him. If anyone else called him that, he would beat them up... Well, probably not, but he'd at least insult them! But this was  _Tiger_! He could do, whatever he wanted. He was strong, independent and bold! This was far better than  _stupid_ Sadie. He gladly absorbed all the attention he got from the other, basking in it. He felt so much better about himself as well! If Tiger loved him, Lars must have been pretty good catch... He struggled a little against being held then, wanting to get even more affectionate. Millionaire let him with a growl, but purred once he had only turned around. "How do you do that? T-The purring, I mean..." he wondered, while sitting on top of the other's crotch more or less.

' _Shapeshifting_...' he mentally explained. He wasn't too good at it yet, but it would do for now. "Oh,  _you know_... I've just trained it since my childhood!" he 'elaborated' for the other, before hungrily stroking along the other's middle. He may be only 14, but he was still a hormonal teenager. Lars seemed to be somewhat satisfied with the answer, deeming it logical enough. The secret gem pulled him down by his hair a little, demanding to be kissed. The human liked the display of dominance well enough, greedily kissing back. It soon got a little heated, when Lars stroked along Steven's stomach- 

The wrestler suddenly gripped at his hand, preventing it from going too close to his non-existent belly-button. "W-What's wrong?" he quickly asked, their lips mere inches apart.

"I... I don't like being touched there, sweetheart," he murmured in utter panic. If Lars touched his gem, it was  _over_. He couldn't play it off as a piercing or  _tumor_!

"Why not?" Lars cocked his head, wanting to lift the shirt with his other hand. Steven then gripped at the second wrist, securing both hands.

He quickly came up with another lie "Because... A fight in the ring went  _horribly_ wrong a few years ago and I'm scarred there-  _beyond repair_. That's what happens, when your contender pulls a  _knife_  on you, baby... So please don't touch or look; I might snap, if you do. Uh... _PTSD_ , you know?" He prayed it was called that and he hadn't messed up.

The 'younger' boy looked at him like a kicked puppy, but stammered "I-I'm sorry..." 'He's so brave to tell me this...' he thought then, thinking it was the truth. Tiger Millionaire really seemed to trust him! He wanted to continue their make-out session then, but couldn't with his hands firmly secured. Next thing he knew, he lay on his back, his 'older' boyfriend towering over him and pinning him down.

'He can't touch me like this hopefully...' was the plan behind it and he leaned down, claiming the plump lips for himself. With displeasure he saw however, that the mark on the other's neck had faded for some reason. He took the human's hands with one of his, while the other pulled at his hair to make him present his neck.

"Nngh- you can't-" the slimmer frame below him whimpered, trying to remind him of this being uncustomary. He even struggled again, as lips ghosted over his neck. "M-My parents will see!" he noted. He had covered up the last marking with his mom's makeup...

Steven didn't care-  _No_ , Tiger didn't. He growled playfully "Oh? Don't you want to be marked by your...  _daddy_?" He had seen a roguishly handsome guy on TV say that to his younger, female partner once. He guessed it would be ok to do so as well. Without awaiting an answer, he sucked and bit into the already abused neck, pretty close to the other's chin.

"G-Gustav~" Lars sweetly moaned, writhing beneath him. 'This is so  _fucking_ wrong! But it feels so good and he's stronger than me...' he had an inner fight with his mind. Only  _mates_ were supposed to do this! The markings wouldn't stay long like this, but still! Anyone who did this, was considered somewhat of a  _slut_. 

'Who is Gustav-  _oh_ ,' Steven wondered for a split second, having forgotten his fake name. He felt a certain hardness brushing against him, while Lars weakly moaned his name. He decided to have a little more fun and bucked into the other softly.

"Mmh-  _please_ ~" Lars whimpered shamelessly, feeling secure with the seemingly older man. He wanted  _more,_ but he could hardly move! 

Steven didn't really have  _much_ of an idea, what he was doing at this point. He had had  _the talk_ a while back, but he still felt a little anxious. Tiger went on teasing however "More? Gotta be more specific, baby~" 

"You k-know, what!" he accused the other.

Steven had an idea then. While Lars was in this state, he could surely just shove his shirt up a little,  _hopefully_ revealing a matching mark. He let go of the orange hair and the abused throat, before sealing their lips together an grinding into the other, as it had brought positive results before. Between kisses, he whispered "No, I don't, baby... Tell your  _daddy_ , what you need~" 

He shakily breathed, enjoying being thrust into. This was all so new and different. Sadie hadn't been this demanding or dominant, but he like it somehow... Under normal circumstances, he would never do this. But he loved Tiger so much and felt protected by him, so he whimpered "F-Fuck me,... _daddy_." 'I'm so done for... I sound like a girl! But it's  _him_...' he scolded himself. So what  _if_ he had a soft spot for older and dominant men?

He couldn't- Lars would know he was lying, if they didn't mate successfully... But perhaps they weren't soulmates anyway? He had to know! Steven purred " _Good boy_ ," and Lars wantonly moaned at it. In the meantime, Steven let his hands slide between the other's black shirt, shoving it up a little-

"Laramie? We're home!" was suddenly called from downstairs and the two froze.

Lars gasped and managed to push Millionaire of in his shock "M-My parents are home early-  _fuck_! You- You have to go and hide! T-They'll end me!" It was only 6 pm! They shouldn't have been here yet! They both hurriedly stood up and looked around for a hiding spot. 

Steven saw the large windows in Lars' room and whispered "I'll go on the roof and bail, don't worry about me, baby! You'd best cover that mark up now..." He pulled at the lithe waist, giving him one more kiss and then the two parted. 

 


	4. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lars needs his boyfriend and Steven has to find out, whether they are soulmates.

~~Monday~~

Lars waited for his bus to come, being quite positive for a change. He just had to get through school, then he could meet his Tiger again! Once the bus came, he happily jumped on and walked to the back of it. He was suddenly pulled into a seat though, by a surprisingly strong female. "Hey, Barriga~ Wanna sit with us?" Jenny grinned, although he had no choice. He sat next to her, while Sour Cream and Buck sat in front of them, looking over their seats.

"S-Sure. Hey guys..." he insecurely greeted them. They  _never_ invited him to sit with them; he mostly sat next to Sadie, who would join a few stops later. 

The three had knowing smiles on their faces and Jenny cooed "And? How was your  _date_ with that  _handsome rogue_ ~" She giggled to herself and Buck shook his head slightly.

'Ugh, of course she told them! The whole school knows of it, probably...' he sighed. He then reluctantly told her "It went well."

Buck snorted "Come on, mate. Open up and tell us more!" He didn't let it on, but he found this quite interesting. This could only lead to some interesting drama with  Steven hiding such a big secret.

He shifted around uncomfortably under their gazes. He could hardly tell them no, could he? And he was quite proud of having a partner, so it  _should_ have been okay. "I... W-We're boyfriends now," he blushed a deep crimson.

Jenny pinched his cheeks in joy "Aww! I told you to just go for it! Now you're probably pretty grateful for my advice, huh? How far have you gone? Did he kiss you? Who is top?" She excitedly jumped on her seat a little like a small child. She had shipped those two for  _so long_! Steven was of course a little young, but whatever. Now she only had to take care of Buck and Sour Cream...

"W-What kind of questions are those?! W-Why do you wanna know?" he got creeped out and looked at them in concern. He even tried to flee, but Jenny securely lay an arm around his shoulder. After staring him down, he admitted "Y-Yeah, he kissed me a-and we made out.... b-but nothing more! A-Are you happy now?!" They proceeded to ask him even more questions then.

"And?" Sour Cream drawled out "Is he your soulmate, too? Would be hella lit, if you ask me. That little  _tiger_ is a good match for you."

"I don't know... I couldn't look at his side, w-where mine is," he sheepishly told them, just when Sadie came. She was a little perplexed at first, but sat close to them nevertheless. Jenny cocked her head then, asking why. "W-Well... Tiger has been injured in the ring a-and doesn't like me seeing that," he innocently answered and the three cool kids chuckled. Sadie did a facepalm, while the orange-haired boy looked at them in confusion. "Hey! T-That's not funny! Some guy pulled a knife on him..." he got angry and snapped at them. Tiger could have  _died_!

Jenny cruelly teased him "Oh, that sucks... Did he unveil yet, who he is?" Steven had probably made up some weird shit for him. She felt kind of bad for the naive boy, but it was also fun to watch.

"I-I don't know, if I should tell you..." he looked down at his feet. What was going on?

Buck assured him "Don't worry, we won't tell."

He trusted Buck most out of the lot, so he sighed "H-He... He's like 24 a-and has a farm. And inherited l-lots of money from his dead father." Buck and Jenny tried desperately to cover their laughter at that, while Sour Cream looked at him apathetically. "W-Why are you  _laughing_!? I-I know, he tells the truth-" he whimpered in frustration and looked at his best friend for support. She however stared at him, looking at him in pity.

"Oh Barriga... You're just too cute, you know that?" Jenny laughed so much, her stomach hurt. 

He shouted at her then for her implication "He's not  _lying_! I-I know him! He- He loves me!" It finally made her snap out of it and in turn  _every_ kid on the bus turned to look at his meltdown. "Y-You don't know him l-like I do! You're just jealous!" he accused the three, while a few other teens began giggling. Most of them knew, what was going on. Someone even filmed him secretly.

Sadie tried to get his attention "Lars-," but she was vehemently ignored by him. She tried again then "Lars, you're making a fool ou-"

He turned around with watery eyes " _Shut up_ , Sadie! W-Why are you so mean to me? Is this because of-"

"-No! I'm not being mean, I just want to protect you!" she pleaded him to calm down. This had nothing to do with them not being soulmates! 'ShitShitShit- I should have told him! Why didn't I tell him earlier- of course Steven would go on," she felt pain for her best friend.

"I don't need protection! J-Just-  **leave me alone**!" he hissed at her and used his chance to get off the bus, as a few more kids entered it on another stop. 

"LARS!" the four classmates called after him, but he was already gone. They felt horrible, since Lars really had no idea. They should have stopped this, before it even started! Jenny then hurriedly ran around the bus, threatening her peers to keep their mouths shut and delete any videos. A  _few_ listened, since she was one of the popular kids at school.

Meanwhile the naive teen ran off to somewhere random, tears running down his cheeks. He was at the border of Beach City, pretty far away from his home. He broke down behind a line of trees, sobbing uncontrollably. 'Why are they doing this? I  _know_ Gustav... he isn't a liar!' he thought in denial. The Millionaire wasn't abusing him, he was so sure... He tried to wipe his  _stupid_ tears away and calm down, but it didn't help. He didn't even know, how to get home! He shakingly pulled his phone out and dialed Tiger's number; the only one, he trusted anymore.

~~Steven's POV~~

He was harshly bashed into the nearest bush, a menacing roar coming from nearby. He got his shield out just in time, as a giant, red paw tried to slice him in half. "G-Guys? Help!" he shouted for the other Crystals. They were currently off fighting a corrupted gem and he wasn't quite good at it. Garnet came to his rescue, punching the reptilian-like gem and making it concentrate on her. Steven was still in training, so he hid in the bush for now. His phone, no, Pearl's phone, rang suddenly and he answered the call.

"T-Tiger?"

"Oh! Baby, now's  _not_ a good time-" 

He heard sobbing and sniffling from the other side. " _Please_... I-I... I  _need_ you."

He dodged a blow from the gem's tail, barely evading it. "W-What happened, sweetheart?" 

"I-It's stupid... M-My classmates-" he couldn't listen further, as he had to block a blow. "-and i-insulted me. P-Please, I-I don't even know, w-where I am." More crying.

Amethyst shouted "Watch out!" just in time, and he rolled behind a boulder.

"W-Who was that?" Lars wondered, still sniffling.

"Oh, baby... I'm uh  _training_ for the ring right now w-with Puma!"

"C-Can't you c-come and get me? I...  _please_."

"Just-" he wasn't quick enough and was hit by the tail, sending him flying for a few meters. "Uff- I n-need some time! I can't come right now, cutie-"

"W-Why not? Y-You must be in town r-right now... I-Is w-wrestling more important t-than me?" the sobbing grew stronger again.

"AH!" he shouted, as the monster was directly facing him and about to eat him.

"Tiger?" he asked, when he got no response.

"NO! Uh, no... it's not, my love. I-I'm not in town- I train somewhere else! I c-can't make it- AH!" He managed to run away from it, while Opal attacked it.

"W-Where are you then? Where could you p-possibly train with her?" the human wailed on, fearing the worst. Was the Millionaire cheating on him?

Opal was harshly thrown away then, just like he had been. He held his shield up, but was almost squished, as he only used one hand. "B-Baby, I gotta go- Sorry!" he ended the call, so he wouldn't  _die_. In the end, they managed to defeat the gem, but it took them another 30 minutes or so. Once they were finished, Pearl was  _enraged_ and snatched her phone away from him.

" **Steven**! Are you crazy? You almost got yourself killed!" she berated him. He tried to tell her he had had no choice, but she brushed him off and told him, he wouldn't accompany them on adventures for a  _month_.

"But Pearl-" he whined.

Garnet interfered "No Steven. I told you this would have consequences and there is no way out of it now." His shoulders sagged and he followed them back to the warp-pad, feeling immensely sorry. This was all his fault! He had tricked Lars, was responsible for him being bullied and he almost died! He had to correct this  _today_... Tiger Millionaire had to  _die_.

~~Four Hours Later, Lars' Room~~

Tiger broke into the Barriga Residence through an open window of Lars' room. He had his costume on again and had come here as fast as possible. By now, Lars was already home, he hoped. Garnet had not told him, saying she would not help him with this. Steven landed on the floor swiftly, taking in the vicinity. He didn't see the human at first, but noticed a cocoon of blankets on the other's bed. The cocoon seemed to sob, too. He padded over to it silently, before cooing "Baby?" and pushing the blankets away somewhat.

"G-Go away!" Lars demanded of him, trying to hold onto the blankets. He didn't want to talk to the other! He had  _walked_ home for  _one hour_! He could have gotten lost and hurt! What if someone had  _kidnapped_ him?

The wrestler didn't let that happen however and apologized "Baby, I'm so sorry, but I just couldn't come and get you! Puma and I were training over in Ocean City and people needed me there-"

" _I_ needed y-you, too! A-And you just hung up on me!" he hissed, not accepting it.

Steven saw it was leading to nowhere, so he pulled away more layers of blankets and then pulled a struggling human from under it. He sat down on the bed, embracing his upset boyfriend. "Cutie, I really couldn't make it... And I was being beat up, while we talked! I had to hang up or I would have gotten hurt," he told him half of the truth. Tiger softly stroked along the other's back and kissed his neck softly. Meanwhile, Lars only pouted and tried to wriggle away again. "But now I'm here and all yours! So... what did those  _idiots_ do to you?" he demanded to be told. Lars summarized it for him, making Steven sadder and sadder. The other was so sure, his friends were wrong... "Oh baby... I'm so sorry, they didn't believe you. Don't listen to them," he told him nevertheless.

" _Please_ , don't leave me again..." Lars begged him, seemingly appeased for now. The orange-haired boy then leaned up, pressing a soft kiss to the other's lips. 

" _Never_ , sweetie," he lied and kissed him more firmly, while cradling his head. Lars seemed to get other ideas then, wanting to continue, where they had been forced to to stop last time. He caressed the other's chest, mindful of not touching his belly. Then he full on straddled the other, grinding into him rhythmically. It soon achieved the intended effect, the member beneath him hardening little by little, as did his own one. "Mmh~ Quite eager, aren't we?" Steven teased, despite hating himself right now. He'd leave Lars soon...

He whined, wanting more than this. "Yes,  _daddy_ ," he lewdly declared. He could be glad his parents were working right now and not at home. He was a little scared of what was to come, but he let his instincts guide him. When his  _daddy_ wasn't advancing though, he palmed him through his trousers, rubbing against his crotch.

"Nngh~ Baby, are you sure you want to go so fast?" he moaned, playing with the hem of Lars' shirt.

"Yes, daddy  _f-fuck me_ ," he begged him to do it and his boyfriend needn't be told twice to his joy. In an instant, his shirt was pulled off over his head- '...My mark...' he could only think then and froze slightly. He couldn't repeat, what had happened with Sadie!

Steven pushed the other backwards onto his back, before letting his hands run over the naked torso. There  _it_ was. Roses intertwined with thorny vines- a  _perfect_ copy of his own mark. He absent-mindedly stroked over it, admiring the brown lines in the soft, warm skin of his soulmate. 

"Tiger?" Lars whimpered, not knowing, how to interpret his behavior. 

" _I have to go_ -" Steven said in faux, negative shock and jumped of the bed suddenly. He'd have to break Lars heart as Tiger, so he stood a chance as Steven-

'Not again!' his mind screamed. He couldn't let him vanish! Lars jumped up as well and managed to tackle his boyfriend. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Lars :(
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos!


	5. Betrayal and Calamity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lars has a meltdown and calms down again.

"Don't run away f-from me!" Lars begged the other, doing his best to hold him down despite his struggling. He was straddling the smaller man's legs, while pushing against his shoulders. Even in this position, Tiger was awfully strong however. "What is going on? Why are you running away from me?" he sobbed desperately. It had to do with his mark, he knew! Even now, it was on full display to the other. "Speak to me!" he demanded and tears dropped onto the other's pink shirt. 

'No- NO! It wasn't supposed to be like this- How do I get away?' Steven's mind went haywire, as he tried to struggle free. He was at a grand disadvantage though. He had been pretty beaten up by the corrupted gem and Lars weighed more than him, due to his height. He suddenly felt hands on his shirt, wanting to unbutton it- "No! L-Lars please don't! I-I can explain-," he completely went out of character in his panic.

Lars? He never called him that and in the other's panic, Tiger's voice had taken on a higher pitch. It sounded familiar... He stilled for a second "Yeah? W-What is there to explain?! Y-You ran away from me, because of my mark! T-That's why you never showed me your stupid belly!" 

"N-No! I-It's not like that,  _please_! No- S-Stop!" he tried to channel all his might, but the last button was already popped open. The human looked frozen in place, his fingers hovering above the undeniable proof of his lies. Tears still ran down his cheeks, now dropping onto the pinkish gemstone below him. His eyes were full of hate and betrayal, while he gritted his teeth. Without one more word, he aggressively shoved more of the shirt away, revealing his soulmate's mark. 

"Steven..." he breathed out in disbelief, his world falling apart. The traitor tried to carefully grasp for the other and calm him down, but it was too late. Lars looked him directly in the eyes, saying, devoid of emotion "You're Tiger Millionaire. Sadie... she was right all along." Their marks then lost a good portion of their vibrant color, becoming dull to the point, where they were hardly noticeable. 

"L-Lars, you have to understand-"

"-I have to understand  _what_ , huh?! That you betrayed my trust? That you made a fool out of me? That you lead me on as a game, so you could hurt me?" the human stood up from him, despising the physical contact. Steven crawled up as well.

He tried to save the situation "N-No! I- I _love_ you! I just... You never liked me and-" 

"And then you _trick_ me into loving you?!" he accused him.

"N-No! T-That's not... I was so sure, we are soulmates a-and  _we really are_! I-I just had to get closer to you," he took a step closer to show it, but Lars pushed him away.

His cheeks were still wet, while he screamed "I am  **not** your  _fucking_ soulmate! I  **hate** you! This is-"

"Lars,  _please_!" the Rose Quartz cried now as well upon hearing that. Just now he noticed, what had happened to their marks.  _He had done this_. This only happened, when the bond irreversibly broke... There was no known chance at getting it back. It happened, when a soulmate hurt their other half so severely, it  _broke_ them. This usually occurred, when there was physical abuse or  _worse_...

His  _ex_ shouted "Shut up, Universe! Get out of my home!" Instead of doing so, Steven got closer to him, though. " _I said_ : go away!" he warned one last time, but Steven got closer again.  He slapped him across his face once, making the other yelp and fall back. " **GO**!" he growled again and threateningly came closer. He shoved Steven again brutally, which made the younger boy finally run out the door and vanish. 

Lars slammed his door shut, nearly breaking it in the process, before locking it. He closed the windows too, pulling down the blinds. He didn't want to see that  _monster_ ever again. He felt himself slowly, but surely hyperventilating and sank down in front of his bed. He felt shame, sadness, anger and panic all at once. He had trusted Tiger Millionaire, had felt so very secure with him, opening up so very easily. He had cooked for, cried in front of and almost slept with him...

'Everyone knew, didn't they? That's why they were laughing at me...' it dawned on him.  _Everyone_ had known- all of Beach City! And no one had told him-

-No, everyone had told him at the wrestling ring. 'Hey Lars, that guy there? Yeah, it's  _Steven Universe_ ,' they had told him over and over again, but he had been blinded by his admiration. No way someone this awesome could be Steven. 

He felt disgusting. 

He had let down his guard like an idiot, letting him in willingly. 

Lars had loved him so  _disgustingly_ much. Well, they were soulmates in the end.

... _Had been_ soulmates. He didn't have one anymore. He looked down at his own mark, which was almost invisible in the dim light. Steven had stolen him something, that could not be replaced. 

He'd never get to experience mating like the others or how it felt to be  _complete_. The human would would live in  _shame_ for all of his life. Everyone who saw his mark would know.

Hell, they would all know it either way. He pulled out his phone and turned it on again while shaking, opening a popular social media app. 

He was _already_ the main attraction... 

Videos of him insta-played for him, showing him his public meltdown. People jokingly messaged him with photos of Steven and Tiger, asking him to spot the difference.

He turned the device off, laying it next to himself in defeat. 

Why had Steven done this to him? 

~~ 2-3 Months Later~~

Lars had gone dark for a while, shutting himself off. It had not been too hard anyway, since the summer holidays had soon started. No one really knew, where he was. Everyone knew however, what had happened. As the new school-year approached however, Barriga appeared again. He sat on the bus next to Sadie like always, as if nothing had happened. He worked at the Big Donut and still failed school, too. Even if Steven came into the Big Donut, which very rarely did anymore, he simply grunted and gave him his order of donuts. 

Steven meanwhile was doing worse. He still loved Lars, despite not being soulmates anymore. Every time he thought about the other, his mark unpleasantly burned- his punishment for what he had done. The first week had been utter hell. He had desperately tried to reach out to Lars, but it either didn't work or his friends and family angrily scared him away. Luckily Connie had been there for him and had consoled him, getting his mind off of the other boy. It kind of had helped as well, that he didn't see Lars. Even now, he never saw him outside of the Big Donut. But still, he had a burning  _need_ inside of him to see the other and take him as his mate, even if it was impossible now. 

It seemed like everyone went back to their old lives somehow. Even the gossip had died down somewhat, although lots of people had negative feelings towards Steven now. 

Something seemed off however.

It was all too...  _easy_. Steven couldn't understand, how Lars didn't try to  _off him_. He just... was so  _normal_. But it didn't matter, who he asked; no one really had a good answer to it. He had only asked all the gems and Connie however, so perhaps the gem should ask someone else as well. Steven made his way to his dad's car wash, as he was one of the wisest humans, he knew. He also knew lots about soulmates!

"Hey, kiddo!" Greg happily waved at him, as he sat in the back of his van. Greg too had been very disappointed in him at first, but it had soon died down. Steven was only a  _child_. He doubted, he had intentionally hurt his soulmate. "You look kinda troubled. What's on your mind, little man?" his father cooed, while Steven sat down next to him.

He sighed "It's about Lars..."

"Son, you have to let go at some point... It's over" he advised right from the start.

"No dad, listen! He's just...  _weird_. E-Ever since what happened and he returned, he's so  _normal_. I j-just... I don't understand, how he does it!" he whined to his dad. He knew one couldn't repair the bond, but he still wanted to help Lars. It was his fault, all of it! And he knew, something was up...

He didn't know, what he was expected to say really. "I don't know, son. There could be lots of reasons for that. P-Perhaps he went to therapy, his friends help him, he takes medicine or whatever. Perhaps he simply  _moved on_..." he proposed. Steven didn't seem to be very satisfied with the answer. "Hm... Maybe you should try to talk to him again? Even if he says no, you at least tried! And if he is so  _normal_ , he should agree. Just be careful not to open up old wounds," he showed him another idea. 

"I guess I could try... It's just- I want to make up for what I did so bad! I should have just stopped...." he softly cried and his dad embraced him, patting his back gently.

"We all made mistakes, kiddo, some more so than others. You think, Rose was glad to have started a war? No, she wasn't... But we all gotta stand up for what we did and admit, we messed up at some point in our lives. Steven... nothing might ever make this right again, I can't promise you that. But trust me, you've suffered enough for it. Don't beat yourself up any more.  _Let go,"_ Greg warmly comforted him. Most people got, that Steven had had no ill intentions. Steven shakily nodded, not having the strength to go through more anyway. 

~~

"L-Lars?" he nervously asked the boy behind the counter, who stared at his phone.

"Mmh? You already got your donuts for today," the older boy neutrally reminded him. It was awfully weird for the other to come here twice a day, especially nowadays.

Steven played around with the hem of his t-shirt awkwardly, his heart beating too fast. He inquired "C-Can we... Can we talk?"

"We  _are_ talking," he muttered. He didn't know, where this was supposed to lead.

"No-  _Yes_ , but like...  _in private_ about  _private_ stuff?" Steven had already internally given up. It had been dumb to go here in the first place! He'd only make Lars upset, which he didn't want at all. 

That made Barriga look up from his screen and eye him suspiciously. Next his eyes wandered to the clock, before saying "Hm, sure. You just gotta wait two hours or so until Sadie comes for her shift." Steven had stars in his eyes and thanked him, before going out and home for a while.

When he returned, Lars lazily leaned against the front of the Big Donut, awaiting him. They agreed to go to the Beach and sit down there, as it was a pretty nice evening. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Lars wondered, looking nowhere in particular. 

Steven was rather put off by how  _relaxed_ his ex was. He hadn't even been like that, before all of this went down. "Lars... I just- I don't know! I just want to know, what is going on with you. You s-seem so  _okay_ with all of this! I-I mean _I_ am sitting right next to you and you aren't screaming at me... Just  _how_? W-Why?" he went on a little rant, not really knowing himself, how to put it. To his surprise, the older boy chuckled.

"Steven, I'm just  _done_ with all of this  _crap_. I don't  _care_ anymore," he whispered more or less. 

"But I hurt you  _so_  much! You can't just-" the gem wanted to disapprove.

Now Lars actually looked at him; his stare had just the tiniest amount of sadness in it. "No,  _I can_. Steven, look-" he rubbed at his eyes tiredly, trying to get his point across. "I don't...  _blame_ you. People sometimes go  _nuts_ , when they can't find their soulmate or they find and can't have them. And I...  _understand_ your intent behind it now. You carried it out in the worst possible manner, but I  _get it_. I know you loved me and I gave you no other chance... You just used the last asset, you had, I guess," he shrugged simply.

"I- You aren't  _mad_?!" Steven looked at him, as if he was bat-shit crazy.  

"Don't understand me wrong. I was  _enraged_ the first few days and I sometimes even wanted to murder you. I was also pretty humiliated, as you can imagine. But... I don't know. My parents and Sadie helped me get through it a-and I got some nice medicine to help as well," he admitted.

"M-Medicine?" Steven cocked his head.

Lars smirked at that, but also got a little worried. "What, you don't take some? You  _know_  there are pills to make the cravings go away, right?  How did you even stay sane without them?" he blinked in confusion. Even though their bond was ruined beyond repair, it was normal for them to  _want_ their other half. Not in a sexual way necessarily, just in a possessive manner. Since that wasn't healthy for either of them however, they couldn't appease that need of course with natural ways.

Steven sheepishly shook his head and his ex got out a small bottle of pills, giving him one. 

"Don't worry about it; it's not really  _common_ knowledge. I mean, how often do bonds break, right? It should help you to become your old self, though," Lars told him.

"So... c-can we be f-friends again?" the gem insecurely asked after swallowing the pill. If he couldn't have the other, he at least wanted them to go back to the status quo. 

The older teen mulled about it in silence. He didn't see any harm in it, really. It would only help them to forget this whole disaster. "Yes. But don't...  _get any ideas from it_ , okay? We are  _just_ friends and this is the furthest I'm willing to go. I forgive you, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt sometimes..." he said with a pained expression on him. It would need to suffice. 

Steven felt the burden of three months lifted from his shoulders. He teared up the tiniest bit and laughed "T-Thank you so much! This- This is more than I could have dared to dream of. Y-You don't even know, how much this helps..." A certain awkwardness would probably always remain between them, but this right here was a great relief for him. 

"No problem... It helps me too, you know? D-Don't cry now!" he then squeaked at seeing the more emotional boy wail a little. 

He helplessly sniffled and got a little bold "C-Can I... Can I hug you? I-I don't wanna cross any boundaries, but..." He already regretted saying something though. It was normal for friends to hug, but probably not after their history together. 

Laramie chuckled at the little panicked looks he got and softly embraced the other. It made his heart falter a little and his mind shout 'He betrayed you, why are you doing this?!', but he didn't care. He was just  _done_ with all their past problems and wanted to start anew. As  _friends_.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this, it follows the canon story line more or less, Lars just being a little more confident.


	6. Friendship through time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short snippets of how things develop between Lars and Steven, before the former is kidnapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought this was better than just jumping straight to his death Owo

~~~~

"Hey Lars!" Steven came running into the Big Donut excitedly, wearing a weird crown and cape. He then stood right in front of the counter, jumping up and down in joy.

The older teen looked at him in confusion. Had he missed something? 'Perhaps it's a new wrestling persona? But I thought, he stopped going there...’ he wondered. But he was happy Steven had dealt with their little problem so well now. He was glad they could finally go back to how it was before. "Hm, hey Steven. What's got you this excited?" he wanted to know then.

The other had a look of hurt on him for the fraction of a second, but then exclaimed "I-It's my 15th birthday!" He shouldn't have assumed, Lars would know that... 'We are  _just_ friends, nothing more!' he angrily reminded himself. He had no right to demand anything more. They weren't soulmates anymore,  _just friends_.  **Just friends**.

'Oh, that explains it. Thought his birthday was in spring,  _shit_...' he panicked a little, but didn't let it on. The human  _cared_ for his friends, even if he couldn't show it. He had to come up with something... "Oh! Of course  _I knew_ that... Uh, look! You even get the uh...  _birthday_ _discount_!" he awkwardly laughed. There was no such thing as a birthday discount, but whatever. He really, really wanted to help Steven. Even in his opinion, the boy had suffered enough and learned his lesson. He also never crossed any boundaries, that ought to get a reward.

"Really?! Cool!" he had stars in his eyes and ordered his favorite donuts. "Y-You know, y-you could come to my birthday party today... i-if you wanted to," he shakily added, once he had the bag with pastries in his hands. His mark felt, as if it was on fire. 

"Oh... n-no, I think I'll pass, sorry. I uh... promised to meet Sadie later," he apologetically told him. He didn't; he had the rest of the day off. 'I can't get  _too_ attached to him... it will only make things harder for the both of us and get his hopes up,' he solemnly thought. The gem looked kind of hurt, but told him it was okay. Lars waved unmotivatedly and sank down atop the counter, resting his head on it. Why was this so hard? This had no right to feel this way! Steven hurt him so much, he shouldn't feel good around him at all! He fished around in his pockets, popping another pill into his mouth. Perhaps those things lost their effectiveness after a while, as his body got used to it? He didn't know and didn't care; he just wanted the feelings to go away, before he got hurt again. 

~~~~ 

"What's wrong?" Lars softly inquired, as Steven sat on a random bench at the pier,  _crying_. The human had just come back from school and was on his way to his workplace. On his way there, he had seen Steven slumped down and crying. This was only the second time, he had ever seen him in such a state. The first one being, when they had broken up.

"I... It doesn't matter- i-it's stupid..." the gem sobbed and tried to shield his face off with his arms. Lars was the last person, he had wanted to see. 

His instincts told him to mind his own business, to not  _care_. They were out in the open, everyone could see and this would only give the other more hope! But he just  _couldn't_ leave him like that. He had loved that idiot before and they were still friends- "S-Steven, no. Tell me what's wrong," he demanded and laid a hand on the other's arms. He felt super fidgety, not liking to do this in public. 

The gem shakily let his arms be pulled away. He trusted Lars,  _he_ _still loved him so much_ , after all. His breath hitched, as the mark on him stung. A reminder, that his feelings weren't welcome and he was to blame for it. It only intensified his wailing, before he answered "I... I w-was on the moon today." The human wanted to disagree there, but remembered Steven had a bat-shit crazy family. He asked though, what was wrong with going there. "I-It's not the moon itself... A-A gem we met t-told me more  a-about my m-mom. S-She... she  **killed** someone and I can't- I can't believe it! N-No one told me- I-" he broke down in front of his ex. One of the invading Rubies had unveiled, Rose Quartz had shattered Pink Diamond.

He had no idea, how to react at first. He anxiously looked around and then sat down next to Steven, taking his hand in support. "Hey, it'll be alright... I mean, wasn't she in some kind of war? P-People are bound to die there..." he tried to play it down. Lars knew barely nothing of the whole matter, only small snippets of gossip.

"N-No! Gems... t-they can be poofed, b-but that doesn't kill them! S-She is a murderer...  _I_ am one!" the Rose Quartz freaked out, not comfortable with the gem sitting at his navel anymore. 

"No, you're not! You aren't your mom, right? A-Also, it was f-for a good cause...?" he carefully implied. 'Damn it... why am I even here? I-I should just send him to Connie...' he mentally scolded himself. 

Steven seemed to think about his words for a while, tears lessening a little. He turned towards his former soulmate then and stammered "Y-You think so? I don't... I don't  _know_... I don't think, killing someone is ever right, e-even if it was a Diamond. T-There must have been other ways! I just... I always thought mom was  _good_..."

He hugged the other reassuringly, while his mind screamed 'NO! No, don't do it- he'll hurt you!' He might, but Lars doubted it. "No one is good, Steven. Not even  _you_. You are like 95% good and 5% bad; she was perhaps 15% bad... Who cares, as long as the good is more? Don't beat yourself up about it, it won't change a thing. It'll only make you feel shitty," he murmured, resting his head on the other's black locks. That's what kept him up and running too. He  _could_ scream and cry at Steven for what he did, but what would happen then? They'd both feel horrible and nothing would change...

Steven gladly melted into the touch, pretending for just a moment, that their marks weren't faded. That he hadn't fucked up and they had mated. Lars was wrong. Steven felt like he was 95%  _bad_ and 5%  _good_... Still he told him "P-Perhaps you're right. I'm s-sorry for bothering you; I-I told you, it was stupid..."

"Nah, no problem. We're friends,  _remember_?" he slightly cooed.

"Y-Yeah, s-sure..." the gem whimpered and hugged the human just a tad bit tighter, not wanting them to part again. His right hand slipped away from Lars' back and onto his left side-

A warning growl emitted from Lars, making him flinch and stop touching there "Universe,  _no_... you don't even need to pretend, like you don't know, what you're doing! We. Are.  _Friends_. So no touching the soul-mark, ok?  _Good_." The gem looked at him, as if he had been caught with his hand still in the cookie jar. A gesture like that was  _not_ appropriate. If one didn't know, where another's mark was, there was no problem. But Steven's was at the same  _spot_ , so he definitely did  _know_! 'That's what you get for letting him in, you moron!' a snarky voice echoed in his mind. 

Steven quickly apologized and they parted with a slight awkwardness between them. 

~~~~

Sadie pushed him down onto the bed with a laugh and told him, he was an idiot. Lars disagreed, before being given a bowl of popcorn. They had started their old tradition anew of watching movies together. Soon his best friend plunged down besides him cross-legged, while he leaned against the head-bord. While the movie played, they chatted a little.

"So... you and Steven are cool again?" Sadie casually mentioned, being genuinely interested. She had seen the two interact dozens of times at the Big Donut and they were rather friendly with each other.

He cringed the tiniest bit, but admitted "Yeah, we're friends... He- he sometimes has a little problem with remembering that, but it's mostly fine."

"Hm... If he get's too pushy,  _tell me_. I'll deal with him," she balled her fist and made a threatening motion with them. She and Lars had gotten pretty close again. He had been pretty mad at first, but they had managed. She  _had_ told him, Tiger was Steven months ago! So really, he couldn't blame her all that much. She now felt pretty protective of the other however, not wanting him to be hurt or bullied again. 

He snorted a little, but then sighed "Nah... He's just... I think he still loves me a-and it's hard for him to deal with it." It was plain obvious, that the gem did. He still had the typical behavior of an unmated soulmate about him, obsessing over the orange-haired boy.

She didn't like hearing that at all "Pff, he has no  _right_ to do so. Lars, he  _hurt_ you... Don't let him do that.  _I_ would have told him to  fuck off." This could only end bad.

"No, Sadie- I-It's  _my_ decision!" he hissed slightly, but then calmed down again "It's no use to push him away; he'll only suffer and I don't want that. A-And it helps to see him... Y-You don't know, how it feels to loose your potential mate like that forever. I still... I still feel  _good_ having him near, even with those stupid pills." His soul still kept calling out to it's missing part, even though it had hurt him and there was no possibility to completion.

"D-Do you... you know, have feelings for him?" she furrowed her brows a little in worry. This could only end up with the two in an abusive relationship.

"N-No..." he answered, but wasn't sure anymore. 'It doesn't matter anyway. The  _possibility_ isn't even there...' he played it off however, pushing it back as far as possible into the deepest, darkest corner of his mind. 

~~~~

Lars watched on through the Big Donut's windows, as Steven and Connie walked past. Connie jumped around happily, seemingly telling the gem an awesome story. The other seemed pretty hyped and they did a little dance of joy, before leaning into each other- 'WHAT?! What are they- are they..?' his mind went haywire and he leaned over the counter as far as possible. 'They wouldn't! T-They aren't even soul-' his breath hitched. But he slumped back, heart still violently pounding, as the two fused.

Of course they wouldn't  _kiss_... 'Why am I even  _jealous_?!  _W-We_ aren't soulmates either...,' he forced himself to avert his eyes from the happy Stevonnie. 

'Why do I care? Why?' he sobbed slightly, but fought hard to keep his dignity. 

But truth was he wanted, what  _they had_.  _It should be him_. He should be this happy with Steven- it was unfair! He angrily hit the counter, letting a few pamphlets fall down onto the floor. He  _hated_ this! He hated it so fucking much... 

'Hurr durr-  _Oh, I'm just so done with it all, Steven_! What a fucking lie...' he told himself. He was  **not** done with this at all! He craved for his stupid mate and it only got worse with every day. He shouldn't have let him back in- it was his own fault! Now he could life his whole life in pain, because he didn't cut all ties. He should have listened to Sadie... Even  _if_ they came back together, it would only increase their suffering. 

This was all Steven's fault!

No... the younger teen wasn't to blame. 

Lars should have been  _intelligent_ for the both of them.

This was hell.

~~~~

"Oh, that's so tasty! Did you make that, Lars?" Steven happily chirped, as he ate some of the cake on top of the counter. As the older teen didn't answer, Sadie did for him. "I mean... I  _knew_ you could cook, but that is so  _good_..." the Quartz more or less moaned, buying the whole thing.

"Steven, you love any kind of food..." Lars played it of; his way of saying thank you. His heart ached at the praise. Steven had loved his food  _back then_ as well.

To their surprise, Buck came in and wanted to buy donuts as well. Steven however shoved the cake into his face, making him taste it. Everyone should know, how awesome Lars' cooking was. The Quartz proudly stated "Lars made it!" and said person suddenly felt the urge to hit him.

"He did? Hm... Jenny, Sour Cream and me are having a potluck tonight. You three should come as well!" Buck noted, still feeling a little shitty upon seeing the orange-haired teen. He felt really sorry for having been mean to him, that had been really  _uncool_. Perhaps this could make up for it.

Lars blushed a crimson red, but as Steven edged him on, he agreed. He needed to be close to the other, even if it was unhealthy beyond reason. This gave him the perfect opportunity.

He accepted though, not knowing, that he had just signed his death sentence. 

 

 


	7. Rebirth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lars dies and new hope arises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't just copy the canon lines they say in the episode, but rewrite them, I hope that's okay with you. 
> 
> Just pretend this alternate reality also changed, what they say :)

~~Shortly After~~

Steven and Sadie had watched on in awe, as Lars had prepared the first ube. Neither of them really got, why he wasn't more confident in it. They had even eaten the  _whole_ thing and Lars needed to make a new one now. However, Sadie didn't have any more time, leaving Steven and Lars alone. 'Hopefully they won't kill each other, while I'm gone or go in the other direction... He really should cut ties with Universe...' she mulled, as she walked out the front door.

"The others will love your ube! I'm so excited- I never had a potluck before!" the younger boy happily chirped, while Lars took care of the purple dough. He unmotivatedly nodded, not  _really_ believing the other. His cooking was  _fine_ , just  _mediocre_. It wasn't anything special! The others should see his mom's cooking, it was far better. The gem called him out on his missing enthusiasm "Hey- I know you don't believe us, but it  _is_ very tasty!"

He regarded his ex with a look, that said ' _oh, quit your bullshit now. I can take it._ ' 

"No! Really! I-I never met anyone, who could cook like that!" Steven did his best to cheer Lars up. Perhaps, if Lars accepted it, he would get happier! Or he could even become a famous cook!

The older teen snorted and shook his head, before starting to handle the dough with less love. "Steven,  _all_ food tastes good to you..." he hissed.

"Hey! T-That's not true- a-are you implying, I need to loose some weight?!" Steven chuckled mildly, but regarded his slightly too big belly nevertheless.

"That's not, what I said! You just...  _love_ everything in general. A-And Sadie is scared of hurting my feelings, as is  _everyone_ else. I  _hate_ this! J-Just tell me the truth!" the human snapped slightly. Everyone was walking on eggshells around him! Yes, he had been severely hurt, but this was ridiculous. He just couldn't take it anymore... Regardless of what he did, this whole soulmate-mess followed him everywhere! It didn't really help him recover from his cravings, either.

The Quartz didn't really know, what to do. He gently laid a hand on the small of Lars' back, wanting to soothe him. He assured him "Of course we try to avoid hurting you! B-But it's not like we  _lie_ to you or something. Look- If your food was shitty and I didn't tell you, the other's would, which would hurt you a lot! So trust me, if it was bad, I'd tell you to protect you!" 

It sounded kind of logical to him, but he had more worries. "Tsk, they'll insult me anyway. They only invited me, so they could make fun of me again!  _Like they always do_..." he stopped making the dough altogether. He should never have agreed to this. 

"Lars, why are you so...  _pessimistic_? T-They are your friends! Y-Yes, they fucked up, but so did I! Y-You forgave _me_..." he hopefully convinced the other, rubbing circles into his back.

"Because you are different!" he let slip out with an annoyed growl. He hated this prying and questioning of his reasons. 

Steven shook his head, although Lars didn't look at him "But my mess-up was far bigger than their's! I-I am to blame, they were mean to you at a-all! If you could forgive me, you should-"

"-No! Just leave it be!" the other then turned around, swatting his hand away a little. Steven would only reopen old wounds and let uncomfortable feelings arise.

"No, I won't! Why am I different, Lars?" he demanded to be told, standing his ground. 'Ugh, he's so stubborn sometimes!' he groaned internally. When Lars didn't speak, he stepped closer, crowding the other against the counter and making him avert his eyes. Steven despised being so  _demanding and dominant_ , but it was hardly possible to get through to the other otherwise, it seemed.

Lars wanted to run away right there, tell Steven to go away and leave him alone. He couldn't though, being stared down by the other. The only way out of this was to tell him the truth. "B-Because... you were my soulmate for stars' sake! Y-You'll always be special..." he whispered.

"Lars-" he began saying, but was interrupted.

"-No, listen. Our bond is broken, but it doesn't change t-the fact, that you're still a part of me... I-I could take the whole fucking bottle of my pills at once a-and I wouldn't be able to shut you out. I  _had_ to forgive you; it would have made me go nuts otherwise. I  _need_ you, Steven, as much as you need  _me_ ," he shakily answered and was promptly hugged for it. 'This is going too far! You opened up too much-" his inner voice  _helpfully_ reminded. Still, he melted into the touch and returned it. 

Steven murmured against the other's chest "W-Why didn't you just say so?" 

" _I did_ , just not this explicitly..." he returned. But then softly sobbed, not really crying though "I wish things were different..." He really did. If he could turn back time, he would stop himself from pushing Steven away all the time.

The Quartz looked up at him then, feeling immensely guilty. But perhaps he could appease their craving a little... He leaned upwards by a little, since Lars had his head hanging down already. The other didn't seem to realize, what he was going for at first. That changed however, when their lips brushed by the tiniest bit. His mark angrily burned, as he proposed "W-We could make things different..." He then tried to seal their lips fully, but was firmly pushed away, with a hand against his gemstone.

"No Steven- it will only make it worse! W-We can't  _ever_ do this... Just... p-please go now," he whimpered helplessly, needing to have the other disappear. Steven seemed to want to disagree at first, but then nodded sadly. Next he asked, whether he would still come to the potluck. "S-Sure," he answered, so the other would finally go away. 

 

~~Some Time Later~~

He felt the pain searing through his soul-mark, cutting right through it. Instantly, he knew it was over. Steven didn't even have to check for a pulse to know that his former soulmate was dead. His faded mark now had a long, red line going through it. An open wound, that would later scar. While the Off-Colors stopped their cheering in confusion, Steven knelt on the cold, stone floor and held his other half. He had just collided with a wall, snapping his spine and killing him right away. 

"L-Lars!" he whimpered helplessly, although it wouldn't change a thing.

It had not been supposed to end like this. 

Though he knew, it was his fault.

'If you continue, it'll kill him,' Garnet had predicted and he had taken it as an empty threat. Lars had only agreed to the potluck, because he craved his mate. He had only gotten this brave, because his former soulmate was in danger. Steven didn't know that, but he had his suspicions.

He had broken and killed his soulmate all on his own. This was no one else's fault.

He desperately clawed at the older boy, his skin already too cold for comfort. There was no pulse or breathing either. 

"Please, no..." he sobbed and it dawned on the other gems, that the human had died. 

More and more tears collected at Steven's chin, before falling down onto his dead  _friend_. No, they never were friends. Not to the gem at least. He still loved the other so horribly much.

Without him noticing at first, pink light stretched out across the corpse's body, engulfing it completely. He didn't see the sense in it at first. But when the other's tired eyes opened to look at him and his mark weirdly tingled, he realized. He had just resurrected his dead ex-boyfriend. "S-Steven? W-What happened...?" he sleepily drawled.

Just then, Padparadscha began predicting a miracle and Steven whispered to him "Y-You died... and I- I made you alive again..." He still couldn't believe it himself. He hadn't known his healing-abilities reached this far...

"N-No way! I couldn't-" the now pink boy went into full denial, but the Quartz showed him his own skin-color. "Ahh! W-Why am I  _pink_?!" he freaked out a little and shoved at Steven a little, making him fall backwards onto his butt. The gem didn't understand at first, thinking Lars was mad with him now. He squeaked however, as his shirt was roughly yanked up, revealing his gem and mark. Two things struck Lars. "I  _really_ died..." he murmured first upon seeing it bearing a nasty wound.

"I predict  _another_ miracle!" Pad suddenly exclaimed then.

"T-The mark, i-it's..." Lars' eyes grew wide, backing away. 

Steven looked down upon himself and then at Lars, who also revealed his matching mark. "... _vibrant,"_ he completed the sentence. On both of them, it now had the same candy-cotton color as Lars' hair and was  _unmissable._ "I-I healed our soul-marks!?" the Rose Quartz jumped up, being joyed and utterly in shock. He didn't know, which healing shocked him more at this point. 

None of them really knew, what to say. 

Lars' mind went absolutely haywire. 'What does this mean? Are we...  _can_ we mate? What the hell is going on...' he only stood there, frozen in place somewhat. Steven seemed to be able to shake the shock off a little easier and approached his  _soulmate_. He prayed this wasn't too much, as he embraced the lithe waist of the other carefully and laid his head against his chest. The heart-beat was so slow, it was almost not there at all.

"Lars? Are you... o-okay?" he asked in concern, as the other didn't react. 

The hug snapped him out of it however, as warm fondness made itself known in him. He sighed shakily and returned the embrace, encircling the other's neck. "This is... this is the craziest day of my life," he breathlessly stated, not wanting to let go. He needed  _something_ to hold onto right now;  _it_ being his soulmate was only an added bonus. He thought being kidnapped and running away from Diamonds had been bad, but  _this_?! 'I need therapy after this...' he solemnly thought.

"Well, it might be  _my_ luckiest day," Steven sheepishly told him. He had made his soulmate healthy again, put the pieces of their bond together!

Lars chuckled a little "Yeah? Hm... might be mine, too." 

The zombie blamed it entirely on the adrenaline, the rush of having died, as he leaned down a little. Steven had a rather shocked expression on him, getting, what was going to happen. He greedily craned his neck, so he could reach the other better, sealing their lips.

It was by far not their first one, but the only one, that had been honest.  _Or so they thought_. 

While one of the gem's hands rested atop Lars' left side, the other traveled upwards. It greedily held Lars' neck, pulling him in more. Although Lars could have gone on forever, letting Steven's tongue in and ravish his mouth, the gem very much had to breathe. Also, something about the pink one's hair was off...

"Huh? Why are you l-looking like that at me? I-Is something wrong?" Barriga insecurely asked at the stare. As he looked around, the Off-Colors seemed to be embarrassed, but also in awe.

"Your hair-  _Lion_! L-Lars! You have portal hair like Lion!" Steven full on combed through the candy-cotton locks.  'But that means- Lion died...' Steven sadly noted. But with all of these happy outcomes, he couldn't be sad for long. "Uh... Can you lean down more? I-I have to get inside your head!" he demanded a little awkward.

"N-Not again-" the zombie shook his head.

"No, n-not like that! I won't possess you again, I will only travel through a pocket dimension and  _home_!" Steven begged him a little.

His soulmate backed away by an inch "H-Home? B-But... y-you will come back, right?" He couldn't stay here alone! Not without the soulmate, he had finally regained. Well, they hadn't mated yet, but still... In his mind, they already had a completed bond. And he felt so good with the other, a stark contrast to the misery he had just lived through for the past months.

"Of course! B-But then I can show the others, we're fine! A-And I can get help perhaps! I-It might take a while though... Y-You could try to escape on your own in the meantime. T-They'll surely come here soon, wondering what happened to their drones," he appeased him quickly. He didn't want to part either, but he had to tell the Crystals he was fine. 

"O-Okay... but please come back soon. I- We have to _talk..."_ the zombie told him and Steven nodded in approval. Lars then proceeded to kneel to him more or less, beckoning him to do his thing. The gem couldn't help put lift his chin once though, giving him a quick kiss again. Then, he was gone. 

~~A Few Days Later~~

Lars sat in the Sun Incinerator's commander's chair, waiting for Steven. He was quite worried for him, after what had happened  _last time_. Steven had visited with Connie together after  _days_ and Lars had been already quite pissed about it. That and Sadie having the time of her life without him had made him snap, giving Emerald a chance to attack them. Steven and Connie then had helped by taking their smaller, spare ship and distracting the battleship. However, they had crashed, almost causing his soulmate to  _die_. Needless to say, Lars felt awful about it. The other had revived him and he had thanked him by almost killing him! The Quartz had shrugged it off, but Lars kept on worrying. What if something happened to Steven, while he was in space? The only way of knowing was his mark...

Soon though, he felt relief as Steven climbed out of his hair and embraced him lovingly. Without really greeting him, Steven sighed "Let's talk now." They still hadn't, as the last events had just been too much. The zombie nodded happily, taking the other's hand and leading him to the deck below, where the engine was. It wasn't really a nice place to be, but the only bit of privacy, Lars had to offer. They simply sat down on the floor, not really having any seats there. The gem awkwardly began "S-So... our marks have been restored, huh. A-And we kinda kissed... Does this mean...?  _You know-_ that you, uh..." 

Lars had enough of his stammering and chuckled "Oh Steven, just spit it out."

"D-Do you l-like me again?" Steven didn't dare go one step further with his question, insecurely playing with his shirt.

"I've always liked you, you moron..." he playfully teased, knowing, what the other really wanted to ask. He had some mercy at the other's sad puppy eyes however and sheepishly answered "But yeah, I don't  _just_ like you... I had feelings for you ever since we became friends again, Steven."

"You really did?!" the gem didn't believe it. 

"Yes... Only a l-little at first, but it got more. I-I didn't appreciate that though; i-it only made me hurt more," he carefully added, not wanting Steven to go on a guilt-trip for the hundredth time. 

Steven got a little worried there. "S-So, y-you don't want to...  _go further_ a-and stay friends?" he whimpered. He couldn't do that! That was self-torture! With their marks restored, their cravings for each other would only double.

He looked at Steven, as if he was retarded. "No! I was talking about  _before_! I-I didn't wanna, because of our marks and because we could never have formed a complete bond. Now we can, I suppose. S-So, I  _do_ want to go further, if you want to as well," he said a little nervously. What if Steven didn't even want to anymore? He had seemed quite happy with Connie...

"...How far? Boyfriends-far or mates-far...?" the Quartz had to ask first. He could do the former, but the latter would be just  _awesome_. He wanted to mate the other and make him his so bad.

The zombie blushed in a deep pink then. 'Well, this is going a little fast...' he noted. Mating was almost like marriage. Of course soulmates already had a bond, but this bond could be made ten times stronger. It would tune them more into each other, give Lars some of Steven's abilities, but sadly also do darker things. If one of them died, both of them would most likely. It didn't  _have_ to happen, but it mostly did, the stronger the love was. He kind of felt bad for Greg- it either meant, Rose hadn't really loved him or that he had not mated her. Anyway, Poofing  _thankfully_ didn't count as dying and the death wasn't instant. Most mates died in the course of two days, though... So if Steven only poofed and always resurrected Lars in time, they could live like that for a pretty long time. And he took a liking to the idea of having a few gem-powers... "I... I think I'd like to be your mate. But uh... mating  _here_ is kinda out of the question," he quickly added, since Steven had a rather hungry look on his face all of a sudden. He would  **not** have sex, while his crew could hear everything!

Still, the gem couldn't help but charge at the other, holding him close with a happy squeal. "Thank you- I love you so,  _so_ much- I-I couldn't have taken it..." he whimpered, while pulling the other into his lap and preventing his escape. 

"I-I...  _love you_ , too. And I couldn't have taken it, either. I just- I want to forget all the crap from before," he told his other half, while having his neck pampered with small kisses. No doubt Steven was excited about permanently marking it, so everyone could see, Lars was  _his_. The pink boy giggled softly, but soon got jealous of his  _own neck_. He gently pulled Steven away from it, sealing their lips again. 

Next the zombie knew, he was sandwiched between the wall and Steven, lewdly moaning as his mouth was being fucked more or less. The gem seemed so warm to him, almost too hot for comfort, since his own skin was so cold. Steven's tongue invaded his mouth, rubbing against his, while the other's hands were  _everywhere_. They greedily grasped at his hips and butt, before travelling up beneath his shirt. While his mark was being gently touched, he was forced to split his legs for Steven, as he was pushed into the wall impossibly more. "S-Steven~" he groaned, as a certain hardness pressed into him, demanding attention.  "Steven, w-we can't! Nngh~ my parents will kill you!" he weakly resisted, while being ground into. 

While going back to his neck, the gem cooed "Hm? What are you talking about?" He wanted to mate, even if it would scar the gems above for life. 

While the Quartz gently nibbled at his throat, he whined "D-Dad's p-pretty traditional, mmh~ Y-You'll have to get his permission first or h-he won't ever accept you. Nngh- c-could you at least stop, w-when I'm talking?!" That seemed to make the other look up and growl.

"Can't we just mate and then ask for permission? It's not like they'll have know..." Steven begged. They would mark each other, but he could just cover it up with a scarf.

"N-No! A-And I don't want to mate  _here_! And you should speak to  _your_ family, too... D-Do they know, our soul-marks are there again?" he inquired, calming down a little from his high of making out. Dante would  _hate_ Steven even more, if they secretly did this. 

Steven pouted, making his heart melt. " _Fine_. I'll talk to them, but I  **won't** wait a year or so to mate- I-I'll go nuts before that! I'll do the hardest part of this, so you'll have to manage with mating  _here_! I don't care how, but make it possible," the gem got a little pushy. It was fairly common for one mate to be a little dominant, while the other was more docile. And what he said was true!  _He_ had no problem with doing it here and he deserved a reward for his troubles. 

The zombie blushed like mad at being ordered around, being reminded of Tiger Millionaire. "You're  _fucking_ impossible... My poor crew! But... I guess it's fair," he grunted and got a chaste kiss for it. 


	8. Talking to the family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has the difficult task of announcing their upcoming mating. Not many approve; three people in particular. Two he anticipated, one came out of the blue.

~~At Steven's Home~~

Steven had told the Crystal Gems and Greg to come to him, saying something important happened. While he stood in front of them, his family sat on the couch, a little cramped. "So... You are all probably asking yourself, why you are here," he began stating. While everyone nodded, Garnet shook her head. He took a deep breath in, before asking "And you all know, Lars died and that he  _was_ my soulmate." They nodded again, Amethyst shrugging. She didn't care about this soulmate stuff. She had a mark, too, but whatever. She didn't need a partner- she was  _independent_. " _Good_. I kept something from you, however. W-When I resurrected Lars, o-other things were healed, too..." he swallowed nervously, showing them his mark. 

Pearl held her mouth closed, the other gasped in shock. Greg declared "But this is impossible!"

"I thought so, too. B-But the bond is there again. A-And yeah... Lars and me, w-we kinda l-like each other  _a lot_ , so... Uh, w-we'd like to mate soon," he reddened and pulled down his shirt again. He could see the others' minds racing, coming up with an opinion.

"Well, son... If you are sure, go for it! I'd like that boy to be part of the grand Universe family! Just be careful, you don't hurt him or this is too early," his dad agreed. Steven hadn't doubted, he would. He was anticipating Garnet's opinion most, since she had future-vision. She seemed to be somewhat  _confused_ however, frowning deeply...

" **You can't** !" Pearl suddenly made everyone jump by shouting. Her hands seemed to want to close up her mouth, while she battled them. He inquired why and she answered "B-Because- he... you- uuh..." she struggled however. 'I have to tell him- But I can't!' she internally screamed.

Amethyst, who usually never got concerned for her, touched her shoulder "Are you okay? Y-You look like you're having a stroke..."

"No! He can't mate him, because-  _mmphf_! Uh..." she failed to say it again.

Steven got a little bit aggressive then "Pearl, just spit it out! I-Is this because of mom and you again? I am  **not** mom!" 'Is she seriously  _jealous_ of me mating? This is going too far!' he angrily thought.

'I can't say it- I can't! She ordered me not to... But it'll ruin everything for him! I have to-' she battled herself again, panicking. "No, it's not I- j-just don't do it!  _Please_ -" she begged him, not being able to explain.

He was shaking from anger "This  _is_ because of mom! Just say it! You're  _jealous_ again! I-I thought we were over this!" 

"No!" she could only deny it and held her mouth shut then. 

Amethyst didn't like all this stress and pulled at Pearl. "Come on, w-we'll talk about this. Just  _relax_ , gosh..." she tried to soothe her in her own way, pulling her struggling form into the temple. 

"I can't believe this! How can she do this to me-" the  _Quartz_ huffed and looked at the other's for answers. "Garnet, do you know, what she's going on about?" he turned towards the fusion.

"No... I don't- Sorry, I need some time alone to figure this out...." she confusedly stated, before wandering off too. Steven watched on in disbelief.  'The future doesn't make sense... I know, Ruby! I don't blame you, Sapphire- Yes, you do!' the two gems fought inside of her. For once, the future eluded her completely. Had she  _missed_ something?

Greg saw his son steaming, so he stood up and embraced him. "Hey little man, it's okay! They are just  _shocked_ I guess. I mean, healing a bond? That's  _crazy_! Just give them some time. Now, do you wanna eat an ice-cream with your old man?" he cooed, wanting to cheer him up and distract him.

The small hybrid shook his head "Yeah, I'll give them some time, but I will mate with Lars either way. And no. I have to talk to Lars' parents now, sorry. Maybe another time?"

Greg hissed in discomfort "You want to talk to them all by yourself? Uh... they aren't really your biggest fan, you know that, right?" Dante and Martha were  _very nice_ folks, but they could get very scary, when their 'baby' got hurt. 

"Yes, Lars wants me to. He won't mate me, if I don't have his dad's approval. I-I'll live, dad. I've been through worse!" Steven assured him, puffing out his chest and looking heroic.

"I'm so proud of you, little one... And I know, Rose would be as well," Greg nuzzled his child's hair lovingly, giving him a kiss to the forehead. The hybrid chuckled and hugged him again, before going outside.

~~The Barriga Residence~~

'I can't believe Lars is making me do this...' he sighed, before bravely ringing the bell. Although the Barrigas had been grateful for the revival, they were mad at him for Lars having been killed in the first place. That and him breaking the bond made their relationship...  _tense_. Martha opened the door soon and he greeted her "Hello, Mrs. Barriga! C-Can I come in and...  _talk_?"

"T-Talk?! Did something happen to Laramie again?!" she gasped and instantly worried for her son's safety. 

"No- uh,  _yes_ , sorta. I-It's nothing  _bad_ though," he quickly prevented her bursting out in tears, as she so frequently did, when it concerned Lars. She nodded reluctantly and led him to the kitchen, where Dante was reading a newspaper. Once he saw Universe, his eyes went dark and he furrowed his brows. Steven was good for nothing in his view- he only ever brought trouble! Martha sat down next to her husband, her  _soulmate,_ and motioned for Steven to sit across from them. Not on  _Laramie's_ place however. 

Mr. Barriga rudely grunted "What do you want." Last time the boy had came, he had brought news of their son dying. 

Steven nervously tucked at his pink shirt- he had even dressed nice for this. "Something  _good_ happened to Lars,  _kinda_. W-When I resurrected him, I restored our bond," he came straight to the point. Last time, he had struggled to do so and Dante had almost  _screamed_ at him. So no, he wouldn't dance around it, thank you very much. 

The old man snorted "Are you kidding me, boy?" Even  _if_ that was the case, the bond ought to have broken right away again. The betrayal had been too big!

Steven hated to do it, but stood up and unveiled his soul-mark. Showing his family was one thing, but this was plain embarrassing. As their eyes grew wide, he explained "No, I'm not. Our bond is as good as new, perhaps even better than before. A-And... Lars is quite open to it. We, uuuh, would like to mate."

" **Out of the question, no**!" Lars' dad shouted, making the gem and his wife startle. Like hell he would let his son get hurt by that weirdo again! "Y-You lied to him, deceived him and  _broke_ him! Do you know, how much he suffered?! He didn't even leave his bed for two weeks, didn't wanna eat anymore- he  _still_ has nightmares! No- just no! You've probably lulled him into this o-or forced him even!" Dante freaked out at the proposal. 

"Honey,  _please_ calm down- y-your heart!" Mrs. Barriga patted his back, feeling his utter distress through their bond. She too wasn't in favor of this. "Steven. Y-You might be a nice boy, _if we disregard everything, you've done_. But no, this wouldn't be good for Lars," she told him softer than her mate. 

'Well, this is going worse than expected...' He tried to reason with them "Please! W-We love each other and we'll only suffer, if we don't mate! And it's not like Lars  _just_ decided to do this today... H-He liked me for months now and forgave me! He'll be sad too, if we don't mate... I know I messed up big time, b-but... can't we just start anew?"

Dante shook his head "I don't believe you. You could be telling us anything, while Lars is gone! I will not give my okay, as long as I don't hear Lars saying, he wants this!"

Steven smirked "...Well, we could visit him  _now_."

~~Later~~

"Ah! Y-You're back already!? I-I didn't even come up-" Lars whined at Steven, but more people came. "-with a plan yet..." he uselessly ended his sentence. "M-Mom?! Dad?! W-What are you doing on my ship?" he squeaked upon seeing his parents. He had never guessed they would be brave enough to use the portal.

"Oh sweetie- We missed you so much!" his mom sobbed and smothered him together with Dante. His crew became a little alarmed, but Steven waved them off. "A-And you're really pink! I-It... it looks so  _adorable_!" Martha cooed, pinching his cheeks. 

Steven had stars in his eyes upon seeing the little reunion, but Lars apparently didn't enjoy being called cute and being cuddled. He growled at one point and made his parents back off a little, after having hugged enough. He then whined at Steven "You were supposed to talk to them- not  _bring_ them here!" He was glad to see them, but he didn't want to do it himself. Now they would probably drop by more often!

"S-Sorry, they wanted to hear you say it yourself..." the gem apologetically smiled, walking over to him. 

"Say  _it_?" the zombie cocked his head, but happily made space for Steven, so he could sit down on his fancy chair as well. 

Dante enlightened him "Well, Universe told us,  _you_ want to mate him. Is that true? After all he did to you?" He couldn't believe, how affectionate his son was towards his ex. He even let himself be held with one arm, which rested atop his mark.

"Oh. Yeah, of course I want to. I wouldn't have send him to you, otherwise!" he snorted at their confusion. Steven's grip tightened on him, being glad for the answer.

"But sweetie, are you sure, he can be...  _trusted_? Not to offend, but he's caused so much damage," Martha awkwardly asked, as Steven could hear it full well, being in the same room and all.

"Yes. I told you before, that I don't blame him much. And I really  _do_ love him. Our marks would hardly be this colorful, if it were any different," he said and then shifted closer to the warm hybrid, who kissed his temple. 

Dante and Martha sighed, feeling each other's uncertainty. But they also saw, how happy their son was with Steven. Dante rubbed his eyes, before agreeing "Ok... You can mate, but be careful. If you hurt him Universe, I'll make your life  _hell_ , understood?"

"Y-Yes, sir..." the Quartz stuttered, being mildly scared. But he was also glad, this was finally dealt with. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :'( my hands hurt from all the writing... But it's so addictive.


	9. Why not?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mating doesn't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments, guys <3
> 
> I guess there'll be 2-3 more chapters, I'm not sure yet. 
> 
> But uh... here's some smut, I guess.

~~Some Time Later~~

"So uh... this should do," Lars awkwardly presented his  _work_. He had transformed a small storage-room next to the engine into a make-shift bedroom. It couldn't have been larger than 2 meters x 3 meters. Fluorite surely would not have fit in it. It wasn't  _much_ , but it had a mattress with blankets and gave them some privacy,  _sort of_. It's not like it was a  _secret_ , what they would do now. His stupid crew had even giggled at him! And he wasn't so sure, this room was really  _soundproof_. 'Stupid Steven, this is all his fault! if he wasn't this  _fucking_ horny...' he ranted a little. 

"I  _love_ it!" Steven cooed and took Lars' hand. His heart was racing, completely excited at this new experience. He impatiently pulled his to-be-mate closer, pushing him into the metal wall next to him. "Now, I think a reward is in order..." he purred and began kissing the other gently. While he expertly distracted his soulmate with his mouth, biting at his bottom lip now and again, he undid the few buttons securing his fancy cape. It unceremoniously fell to the floor with a slight thud, making Lars instantly feel ten times more vulnerable. Next came the other's shirt, which possessed way too many buttons in Steven's opinion. He really had to restrain himself, so he wouldn't just  _rip_ it off. Once it was open, he let go of the slightly swollen mouth, and let his hands slide over the pinkish skin. "You're so handsome, you know that?" he grinned and slid the shirt off of Lars' shoulders in one motion.

His mate didn't really say anything, but enjoyed being caressed like that, mewling slightly. The hybrid teasingly leaned in again, sucking at the other's neck, but not yet biting like his mate wanted him to. Still, his pinkish zombie deliciously called out his name and presented his neck eagerly "S-Steven, nngh~ S-Stop teasing." He was rewarded with a leg shoving between his, opening them up for his mate. 

"Hm... hard already? Bet you've been thinking about nothing else, huh?" Steven deeply chuckled at the other, palming him  _softly_ through his white trousers.

"F-Fuck you," Lars growled offendedly at that and tried to thrust into the warm hand. He let his own arms embrace his gem's waist, encouraging to give him more friction. 

The insult made Steven only stop touching him as a punishment and reminding the other "Oh? You weren't that mouthy, when you wanted Tiger to  _mount you_ ~" The arms around him tried to pull him in with force then to no avail. Steven was stronger than a zombiefied human and didn't budge. 

The commander snarkily retorted "Yeah? W-What are you gonna do? Gag me?" 

"If you don't behave, yes. Hm... you could in fact put that mouth of yours to good use  _now_. Kneel," he demanded the other to follow his command. He had no idea why, but this display of power gave him a little kick. The former human didn't want to however, telling him no. "Too sad you don't have a choice, _baby_ ," he growled, pushing the other down by his shoulder. 

"T-That's not fair! I-I thought, you didn't use your powers on humans..." his soulmate actually pouted at that, making him only hungrier. 

"You aren't a human. You are  _mine_ ," the hybrid reminded him with a smirk and combed through the slightly curly, candy-cotton hair. "Now, do as I told you," he ordered again. Lars proceeded to open his trousers with shaky fingers, not having done this before. Steven the kicked them away, annoyed at how long this was taking. 

When his erect member was on display, Lars' eyes widened "...T-That will  _not_ fit..." It might just have been his kneeling position, but it looked rather big, bigger than him at least. He tried to shy away a little, not comfortable with that  _thing_ dangling in front of him.

He wasn't given a choice though, as the hand in his hair tightened suddenly and pulled him towards it. He didn't even have the time to react properly; as he gasped from having his hair pulled, it was used against him. At least Steven wasn't that cruel and pushed it in completely, giving him time to adjust. Soon however, more was guided into him, his head forced onto it by his hair. He gagged a little and tears formed themselves, but the Quartz cooed "Just  _relax_ , baby... Yeah, that's good..." The grip on his light curls lessened, allowing him to move a little more independently. It was not much of a help though, as Steven began mercilessly pounding into him. It wasn't pleasurable for him at all at first, but the lewd, wet noises and the gem's moans turned him on impossibly more. He looked up at the other, slightly humming around his dick. "Nngh- Just look at you~ I wish your crew could see you now... Not that big of a leader now, hm?" the leader of the Crystal Gems shamed him, but he was into it kind of. 

Steven soon felt himself coming closer, so he pulled out. He didn't want to  _knot_ now, as it would be  _kind off_ counterproductive. He lovingly stroked through the hair of his soulmate, who was catching his breath- although he didn't even need air. "You've done so well, baby... So good for your mate," he chuckled, while wiping away a little bit of drool of the other's chin. He then pulled him up, just to push him onto the makeshift bed. Steven pulled of his shirt and underwear, before relieving Lars of the same. The gem then crawled over the zombie, trapping him beneath himself. Needing a moment to recover, he sealed their lips, lazily kissing the other, while jerking him off slightly. Not enough however, so the other could come.

"S-Steven,  _please_... more!" Lars whined and bucked up into the loose fist around him. How could he be this cruel to him? He tried his best to appease the other, so he would  _do_ something  _for him_ , reaching for the other's shaft-

His hand was seemingly not appreciated and swatted away to his confusion, before being pinned down. "Hm... wouldn't wanna knot outside of you, sweetheart~" Steven  _explained_ , while attacking the soft neck of the other.

" _K-Knot_?!" Lars whined, not really getting it. 'What is he talking about?' he wondered, but bared his neck to the other either way. 

That made his mate still however and sit down on his legs. "...You don't know?" he asked in concern.

" _No_?! W-What are you talking about?" he whined, missing the friction. 

"Oh. Uh... Don't worry then, it's an uh...  _gem thing_. You'll see soon enough," he told him with a smirk and then pushed the other's legs apart, sitting between them instead. Lars reddened, or rather  _pinkened_ , at that, trying to press them together again. He didn't like feeling this exposed at all. "Nah, don't do that... You've got  _nothing_ to hide from your  _daddy_ , I've already seen  _plenty_ of it," he darkly chuckled, letting his alternate persona come through a little. Not that his mate minded much. Lars wanted to ask, what he meant by that, but three fingers were shoved into his mouth and wriggled around, while he was jerked off a little harder, a finger teasing his head. While he couldn't struggle much or insult him, Steven elaborated "When? Well, I might have abused the possession a little... But it's your fault for going commando~"

The zombie  _died_ of shame right there and angrily murmured something against the fingers sliding in and out of his mouth. 'How dare that little shit? He probably had lots of  _fun_   _inspecting_ my body... What a creep-' he thought, being offended, but also turned on by the thought of it. What had Steven done? Had he just  _looked_? Had he perhaps masturbated or even  _more_? Perhaps he had even taken photos...

The fingers left his mouth, making him feel empty. He soon hissed in pain however, as one entered him elsewhere. "Shh... it's alright. It'll feel good soon, baby," the Quartz cooed, but didn't really know. He had only read so on the internet. It wasn't like he had any hands-on experience! True to his word however, he found a spot to make the older teen's toes curl and groan in pleasure. "See? Your daddy wouldn't lie to you~" he purred, inserting another finger.

"Ah- Y-Yes,  _daddy_ ~" he let go to it completely, shamefully moaning and thrusting back into the penetration. As the third finger entered him and his dick was taken care of as well, he soon came all over his stomach to his disgust, calling out "Steven~" and chanting the name afterwards.

The fingers became a little harsher then, overstimulating him. "Hm... And that was only the beginning, love. Mmh- can't wait to see your face, with my knot inside you," the gem licked his lips, before pulling his fingers out. Lars was glad to have a pause for a few seconds, but misjudged the situation. The fingers were replaced with something  _much bigger_ and throbbing, the head of it pushing inside already.

"N-No- Stop! I-It hurts! It won't fit-" he began wriggling away at the pain. Steven sighed in annoyance and harshly held him still by his hips, preventing his escape.

"Don't worry your pretty head about it... You'll be screaming for more in no time, baby," he chuckled and was surely bruising the round hips by now, pushing in deeper.

"N-No, please!" Lars began begging and crying a little, not believing him anymore. He wriggled around and tried to shift his legs around, so he could push the other away to no avail. The hybrid was just far too strong for him to handle. Steven was then fully emerged in the tight coldness of Lars, but found it kind of pleasant. He gave his poor soon-to-be-mate a break, just keeping still. Upon seeing the other cry so much, he gently wiped the tears away and leaned forward to kiss him better. His healing abilities seemed to take some of the pain away as well,  as he intended his spit to do so. 

"Can I move now, baby?" he looked at him with pleading eyes, patience growing thinner. He wanted to come inside the other and mark him as his mate so much, it was unpleasant to wait any longer.

Slightly sniffling still, the zombie nodded however, wanting to complete their bond. The other grinned at him, gave him a short kiss and then  slowly pulled out again, before pushing in with the same pace. He  _really_ tried to keep it that way for a while, but felt his control slipping, thrusting harder and faster. The undead human held onto him tight, mewling and moaning after a while at having his special spot hit over and over. " _More_ ~" he groaned breathlessly, meeting the thrusts.

"Mh- I  _told_ you," he teasingly declared, letting one hand slip between them to jerk of Lars. "I love you so much..." he told him, while feeling his orgasm build up. Lars whined something incoherent, which could have been interpreted as the same words. He had far less stamina than a gem-hybrid and already came again with a shout, making his insides clench up perfectly. Through his high, he remembered he still had to mark his mate, so he gently pulled Steven down more. The other seemed to understand that and willingly gave him his neck, which was only softly kissed at first. Lars had a few inhibitions to really  _draw blood_ from the other and slowly worked up to it. He soon did however, making Steven wince in pain. 'Weird... they always tell you, it won't hurt...' he thought in disappointment. It had probably been overly romanticized, though. 

The zombie apologetically lapped the blood away, enjoying it to his shame. He was still thrust into, but no way he was getting hard a third time. It was uncomfortable to be still fucked into, but it needed to be done. Their bond wouldn't be complete, if Steven didn't cum... This wouldn't hopefully be an issue next time, when he got a few of Steven's abilities, including perhaps his stamina. 'Hm... I always thought, the bond would grow stronger  _over time, throughout our mating_. Perhaps it's different for gems?' he wondered. 

Soon Steven couldn't take it anymore and came with a final set of moans, pumping his seed into his mate. He exhaustedly marked Lars as well then, who bled significantly less than him, due to not having lots of blood. 

Something put them off after mere seconds. 

"S-Steven?" Lars shakily asked him with worry in his eyes. 

"Why haven't I..." the gem wondered himself. 'Why didn't I knot? I  _can_ , I  _know_ that! I-It's part of the mating...' he panicked and pulled out, sitting back. Something was wrong.

His  _supposed_ mate suddenly began sobbing and aggressively pushed him, making him fall on the cold floor. Lars then proceeded to cover himself with a blanket. "What have you done!? Why didn't it  _work_?! Y-You...  **You lied to me**! I thought I could trust you!" he shakily screamed at the gem. 

"N-Nothing! I- I promise! I didn't keep anything f-from you! I-It must be yo-" he defended himself.

"How  _dare_ you say that! You- You  _abused_ my trust! Y-You just wanted to get into my pants- I-I can't- Why are you doing th-this to me? W-Why do you hate me so much?! I-I never did anything to you-" Lars hyperventilated, gasping desperately for air, his body couldn't even absorb.

"Lars! I'm telling you, there are no lies or secrets! Y-You know everything of me!" he cried himself. This had been supposed to be the happiest day of their lives...

He shouted "Get out- Get out of my ship! G-Get out of my life! I don't want to see you again! H-How could you do this to me?"

"No! Please, Lars, I love you!" he whimpered, while hurriedly dressing.

"I  **hate** you!" was only answered back, like the last time. "Go away! I-I'll call my crew, if you don't! Go!" he cried uncontrollably and held his head down. 

"I-" Steven started saying, but saw it was no use. He couldn't reason with him like that! He shakily stepped into the hair and vanished.

A tentative knock could be heard on the door and Rhodonite's voice carefully asked "C-Captain Lars? I-Is everything alrig-"

"No! F-Fuck off! J-Just leave me alone!" he shouted at her, not knowing, what to do. She seemed to get it and walked away, while he hugged the blanket.

'I should have known... The bite was too painful, the bond didn't get stronger and his weird knotting-thingy didn't work... I-I'm so stupid! He j-just wanted to s-sleep with me... He lied right to my face  _again_! W-What did he keep from me? Th-That he never loved me in the first place?! I can't take this anymore...' he broke down and breathed shakily. Mating could only fail for one reason. One of the partners had kept a secret or had been dishonest and Lars had not been it! 

The zombie ached all over. He touched his neck, where he had been bitten. Were they mates, it would already be a scar, but it was an open wound... He looked down at his hips, which bore nasty, purple marks from being gripped so hard. But- 'the mark is still there... and it didn't even dull down. What is this?' he sobbed and played it off as Steven's magic torturing him. He curled up in a fetal position, feeling lost and abused. He had been so happy a few minutes ago...

'This is what you get for opening up' a voice reminded. He should have listened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry :( But I promise there'll be a happy ending to this!


	10. Pearl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven can't understand, what went wrong. But since Pearl had behaved so weirdly, she might.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love this gets! The story will now be 96% happy, I promise! (I try)

Steven seriously considered staying in Lion's mane and suffocating for a few seconds, but then jumped out. He found himself in his living room, looking utterly disheveled. He didn't understand this at all! He hadn't kept anything from Lars-  **nothing**! He even knew, his mom shattered Pink Diamond! But Lars wouldn't have kept anything from him either... He was still balling his eyes out in confusion. What was he going to do now? What would he tell the others? They'd see the bite hadn't scarred, like it should have. This was so  _weird_. There must have been more to this.

Perhaps their marks  _hadn't_ been completely restored? No, they looked just fine and felt so too! His didn't even burn anymore. Even now, it looked indifferent. 

He could ask Garnet perhaps, but she had been so weird after P-

 _Pearl_. 

 _Pearl_ had warned him not to mate. 

Desperately so.

She  _knew_ something, no one else did. 

He had to talk to her.

He ran up to the temple's door, angrily banging against it. "PEARL! Pearl! Come out!" he shouted at it, hoping it could reach her. 

"I'm right here, Steven," she suddenly answered, standing in the kitchen. The gem had not seen her in his frenzy.

"Pearl! Why did you tell me, not to mate?!" he snarled at her, stomping towards her. Why didn't she tell him, this would happen? 

She looked down upon the ground, saying nothing. 'He didn't listen to me... But I can't  _lie_ to him about it, like I did to Greg. I  _have_ to tell  _him_! He deserves to know! He'll  _hate_ me...' she internally wailed. "Steven. I need you to get inside my Pearl," she solemnly whispered.

"What the-  _No_! I'm not going anywhere! Answer me! Why couldn't me and Lars mate?!" he got more aggressive and intended to punch her in the gut. She catched his blow with one hand however, preventing it. She could be lucky, Steven hadn't fully developed his powers yet. Being hit by a Diamond wasn't easily deflected normally.

"Go in my Pearl," she could only state, as everything else would be prevented by Pink's order. As he tried to disagree again, she grasped his sides, held him up and forced him into her gemstone.

"Pearl!" he shouted in fear, thinking she was trying to make him disappear. Perhaps she and Rose had a dark secret together and he had to die for nearly finding out?

Soon, his voice died down and Pearl  _waited_. Waited and prayed Steven would find, what he needed. She hated not being able to tell- she  _despised_ Pink for it. Steven of all people had a right to know, who he was! She wished she had had this idea earlier- what if the hybrid's mate didn't want to mate anymore? She still remembered, how Greg had behaved afterwards...

Him and Rose had  _tried_ to mate as well, but only achieved to procreate. That's why Greg wasn't dead yet, too. Only mated soulmates died together. Pearl had come up with a lame excuse back then 'Oh, humans and gems can't mate. They can't fuse either after all!' But it had been a lie. Steven would have been able to mate with Lars, even if he wasn't a hybrid. She'd never tell the old man however; it would break his heart. She didn't really like him, but he didn't deserve that. Pearl herself knew, how it felt to love Pink and not be able to mate her...

After a few hours, Garnet and Amethyst joined her. Garnet was still not sure, what was going on, but Pearl told her to wait. "Garnet, Steven will tell you...  _I can't_. Just-  _I'm sorry_ ," she shadily said. Pearl prayed, the Crystal Gems would be able to stick together after this.

Soon, a shocked Steven exited her Pearl and landed on his butt. "Mom was...  _Pink Diamond,"_ he stated matter-o-factly.

With the order broken, she nodded "Y-Yes... I-I wanted to tell you for  _so_ long, b-but I just couldn't. I'm so sorry..." While Amethyst freaked out, Garnet split and Sapphire ran away to their dismay. "S-Sapphire, wait!" she called, but it was too late. Ruby sadly slumped down on the couch, feeling lost without her mate. 

Steven groaned "Great! Now we have  _two_ problems to deal with... Amethyst, Pearl- can you take care of Garnet? I  _have_ to get to Lars!" He wanted to help his friends, but Lars was more pressing right now. No wonder their mating failed-  _he had kept something from him_ , even if he hadn't known. He didn't even have time to process it himself. He ran upstairs to his bed, where Lion was sleeping soundly, jumping right into his mane.

He wandered through the pink 'grass' and exited at the other end, almost out of breath. When he stuck his head outside, he was on the main deck, Lars crew comforting their leader and- 

He violently coughed, as he couldn't breathe. 

" _Go_!" the crew angrily hissed at him, shoving him inside.

He hurriedly made his way back, almost passing out. When he came out at Lion's side, he collapsed onto the floor. He coughed, drool almost closing up his airways. "Steven?!" Amethyst heard the violent noises and ran upstairs. She had stayed behind to console Ruby. "W-What's wrong with you?!" she desperately shook him, not really helping. After some time however, Steven managed to regain his composure more or less.

"A-Almost ran out of b-breath-" he coughed again. "I-I c-couldn't breathe in t-the ship-" he heavily caught his breath. The purple gem then helped him up, sitting on the bed. 

"Damn... Perhaps they let out the air, so you couldn't get there? Y-You're uh  _soulmate_ doesn't need to breathe, right?" she offered helpfully. She doubted they had put poisonous gas in there to kill the  _Diamond_. 

He heavily leaned against her frame and agreed "M-Makes sense... Felt like trying to breathe in his head. S-Shit, what do I do now? I-I have to tell him!" But how? He couldn't breathe in there! He could make a bubble with air here, but he didn't fit into the mane like that- he had tried. 

"Well... you could cry a little, we kill you and then resurrect you! O-Or you just send one of us there," she awkwardly chuckled. 

"B-But... only you are here, everyone else is freaking out!" he whined. He would have preferred to let Garnet do this, honestly...

She felt the tiniest bit offended, but played it cool. "It's okay, I can do that! Hell, I know how to handle humans better than the others!  _Trust me_ , bro..." she told him, but he didn't seem that convinced. " _Or_ we could fuse... I don't remember Smokey Quartz-  _uh... Smokey Diamond_ breathing. So perhaps...?" she proposed. 'Woah... I must be the coolest Quartz there is- I-I fused with a fucking  _Diamond_!'

"Amethyst, you're brilliant! L-Let's do it!" he exclaimed with new hope, pulling her off the bed and downstairs to dance. He really hoped, Amethyst wasn't mistaken. Soon, Smokey  ~~Quartz~~ Diamond-  _whatever she was_ , stood in the living room. True to the purple gem's word, she didn't breathe at all. She felt...  _different_ somehow- more powerful. She quickly floated upstairs, before heroically plunging into the mane.

"Wow! So that's what it looks like in here! Oh! Look- our flag and stuff!" she excitedly squealed, taking just a moment to look at Rose's stuff. But she had a mission, so she made her way to the other side.

"We said:  **go away**!" was immediately screamed at her, but she jumped away quickly enough. The Off-Colors looked at her in confusion, not recognizing it as a Steven-fusion.

Lars did however upon seeing his soulmate's mark and hissed "It's Steven!" Instantly, his crew was on her and trying to poof the fusion. Lars meanwhile looked like shit, cowering in his commander's chair. His hair looked ruffled and his eyes pretty puffy, as he watched on with a mixture of hate and sadness in his eyes. To his dismay, Padparadscha was soon thrust into one of the consoles, poofing her. "I'm sorry Pad! Lars! We just wanna talk!" Smokey W _hatever_ shouted. 

The former human only watched on further however, as his crew was being beaten up. Next the twins were poofed, Smokey bashing them in the floor. Off-Colors didn't just have weird colors and were deformed. Their abnormality made them significantly weaker in the most cases, easy to poof and shatter. "S-Sorry!" the fusion shouted again, hating to do this. Next came Fluorite, who wasn't that easy to poof. Instead, Smokey tied her up with her yoyo. Rhodonite cowered behind a chair in fear, having collected her two friends and holding them. Smokey approached Lars then, who was shaking.

"W-What do you want from me? A-Are you here to make fun of me? A-Abuse me more?! J-Just go..." he pleaded, looking genuinely scared now. 'Why is Steven doing this? Does he... d-does he want to  _rape_ me?! I can't-' he whimpered softly, as the fusion lay one of her hands on his knee. His crew had stood no chance against it. Amethyst and Steven were too well trained and Smokey was a Diamond-fusion...

"No, none of that pink-guy. Steven does love you a lot and he didn't intentionally, uh,  _betray_ you. If you let the air in here again, he'll explain," the Quartz-Diamond-Fusion tried to be gentle for once, Steven's personality seeping through. 

He had no chance, had he? Smokey would probably hurt him, if he didn't. He shakily tapped onto his chair's buttons, reactivating the O2-production of his ship. After some time, there was about enough for a human to survive and the fusion broke apart to his relief. 'Perhaps if Fluorite escapes now-' he wondered to no avail. The tall multi-fusion was already free, but just stood there, protectively wrapping around Rhodonite and the two gemstones. She was scared, too.

Steven approached him then, while Amethyst backed off a little. He carefully touched the other's hand, who was utterly mortified. "Lars,  _please_. D-Don't be scared of  _me_! I know why our mating failed and it's...  _difficult_. But I promise I really had  _no idea_ , okay?" he tried to soothe his intended, rubbing circles into his hand. 

He snorted "S-Sure." He hated how Steven being near and touching him calmed him down 'Stupid soulmate-bond making me go soft...'

"No, really! Pearl w-warned me not to mate with you, but didn't say why, so I ignored it. She... She served Pink Diamond, before she joined the Crystal Gems," he started from the beginning, the remaining Off-Colors gasping in shock. 

"That doesn't have anything to do with-" the zombie impatiently snarled.

"Yes, it does. Listen, my mom...  _she had secrets_ and only Pearl knew. Since  _I am_ my mom, those are  _my_ secrets, too! S-So our mating failed, because I literally  _couldn't_ tell you," he tried to convince him and Lars seemed to shake a little less.

He huffed "Why should I even believe you, huh? What kind of  _b-big secret_ could that be, huh? You're just making shit up..." He wouldn't sleep with Steven first, so he could confirm that!

He hoped things wouldn't get worse now. Lars was an enemy of the Diamonds, just like his crew. "She, uh...  _I_ am not a Rose Quartz. I a-am  _Pink Diamond_..." he answered, averting his eyes in pure shame. 

What he didn't expect was Lars to hysterically laugh at him and rip his hand away "OH! Of course! Of course you are a Diamond! I can just  _tell_ by looking at you! After all, you are so tall and  _mighty_ , aren't you?  **Stop the bullshit**! Your gem looks like a regular Quartz! I'm not some kind of naive idiot- I know enough about gems to know, this is impossible!" 'Does he actually think, I'm that dumb?' he wondered bitterly.

"N-No, it's true! I am Pink Diamond! She was never shattered by Rose Quartz. P-Pearl shape-shifted into her to poof her! A-And my gem is just turned around-" he tried to reason with the other.

" _Fuck off_ , Steven. If you want to rape me, just do it already and get it over with! I don't need any fancy fairy-tales!" Lars hissed at him, making the small Diamond startle.

'R-Rape?! What does he think of me?' his eyes grew wide and watery. There was only one thing he could do, so he would be believed. He had never done a full-body shape-shift before, but he had no choice. He had gotten stronger through finding out, who he was- perhaps in this regard as well? He took a deep breath, before stretching his arms out and transforming into light for a few seconds.

"What the-" almost everyone made upon seeing the new shape.

"Do you believe me now?" he said, but sounded like his mother- well, he looked like her as well. It felt awfully...  _good_. Like it was  _right_ to look like this. Fluorite and Rhodonite screamed in terror, as Pink Diamond herself in all her joyful glory knelt in their ship. She was pretty tall, taller than Fluorite and didn't really fit into the ship.

Amethyst couldn't believe it herself "W-What the hell, bro! I think turning your gem would have been enough!" He had turned it, but wanted to be  _extra sure_ , everyone was convinced. 

The former human carefully approached him, reaching out a hand, but not daring to touch. "S-Steven? You..." he brought out. 

"Yes, I am Pink Diamond. And I  _really_  only found out like 30 minutes ago. I... I'm sorry I messed things up for us again. And Pearl is, too! But she was too scared to tell me and the others and couldn't even do so in the first place. Mom ordered her not to tell... I had to go inside her gemstone to find out. I'm so sorry..." he explained with his feminine voice, gently cradling the other's head.

"No human Lars!" Rhodonite panicked at him being touched by the large empress, or rather emperor. She gave Fluorite the two stones and ran up to Pink Diamond, hitting him furiously with her four arms in an attempt to safe her captain. "You won't hurt him!" she shouted in vain, as Steven sighed and took her in one of his, now rather big, hands.

"Rhodonite, calm down. I'm not gonna hurt him at all! He's my mate!" Steven offendedly told her, before setting her small form down again. "Now, Lars... Please say something," he begged, while still feeling the other up a little.

'Did he know of it or didn't he? Either way, this is a little much... Diamonds are  _bad_. But this is  _Steven_ , for stars' sake! My soulmate...' he didn't know, what to think of it. He however reluctantly touched the big hand softly, testing the waters. After some minutes of silence, he said "I... I believe you. B-But! Uh... I need some time. Y-You being Pink Diamond i-is...  _a lot_...and I don't- I  _c-can't_ mate with you again right away. I need to uh... get  _used_ to  _this_ " He waved around weirdly with his arms, indicating Steven's appearance put him off.

"T-That's more than I hoped for,  _love_. A-And I won't stay like this. I uh, just need a little time to collect energy, so I can reverse it. And we can wait this time...  _I_ s-shouldn't have rushed you like that," Pink Diamond admitted and happily cooed, as Lars kissed his hand. 

Amethyst frowned however, rounding the tall gem "Uh, Steven? T-That's not how this works. You should revert back to your form by  _letting go_... t-that doesn't cost any energy!" 'He should know that! He has seen me do it and did it himself...' she mentally added.

He shook his head "No... This is  _different_ somehow. Like... I was  _shape-shifted_ before I did this and this is my real form. I don't know... Well, I guess it  _kinda_ is. J-Just give me some time to figure it out. Uh, perhaps you should go back to Ruby now though. i can handle this myself, thanks for helping!" She reluctantly nodded and vanished through the other's hair. Lars still looked at him in awe, not quite believing this to be his boyfriend. He squeaked a little, as he was pulled into a hug. "I love you so much..." Pink Diamond whispered, holding the  _small_ person.

"I-I love you, too..." he whimpered, being squished. This was very surreal to him, but what wasn't nowadays? 


	11. Second Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven gave Lars A LOT of time and suffers. The wait soon ends however.

~~Weeks later~~

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore! I need to- I need to mate! This is making me go nuts," Steven almost sobbed in frustration, laying on his back on his bed.

Connie shook her head, not being able to understand, since she had not found her mate yet. " _That'_ _s_ your biggest concern right now!? Y-You were on Homeworld two days ago and returned without getting killed! Y-You met White Diamond!" she furrowed her brows and held up her arms in disbelief. 

"That was easier than  _waiting_! W-White just had a little trouble, getting who I was. She's super nice to me! Lars is... he is also nice and loving, but he drives me  _mad_! H-He's doing this on purpose!" he explained to her, angrily choking one of his plushies and shaking it. 

"You call almost murdering you  _a little trouble, getting who you are_?! S-She wanted to rip out your gem to make Pink come back!" she whined at her best friend's totally irrational behavior. 

He rolled his eyes "Don't we all become a little extreme sometimes? S-She even apologized for it! And now we're just  _one, big, happy Diamond-family_! I don't see a problem." Really, Connie was over-doing it. The Diamonds were pretty fond of him! They had even allowed him to stay on Earth for some more years! And that might be 200 years in their terms! Only then would he have to take care of his court and stuff... It was a pretty good bargain to say the least. Lars made him worry far  _more_. "I just don't get Lars' problem! He treats me so weirdly now... L-Like I'm a completely different person! He makes such a big deal out of me being a Diamond..." he pouted then, looking at her for moral support.

"Well... I would be scared, too, if I had to mate you," she admitted.

"W-What- Why? I-I'm not scary!" he defended himself.

She shook her head and pointed at his gemstone "You aren't, but your rank is. Y-You're an  _emperor_ , Steven! A-And Lars is also immortal. I-If you go back to Homeworld in a few decades, he'll have to go there, too! A-And then he'll be the mate of  _the_  Pink Diamond! That's a-a pretty big responsibility!" 

He sheepishly looked away "Tsk. It's not that big of a deal! Being a Diamond isn't too hard... it's kinda boring, really."

"Y-Your court already worships you like s-some kind of demi-god for returning! It  _is_  a big deal! A-And they'll surely praise your  _mate_  as well and want to talk to him," she gasped at his ignorance. 'He's probably just playing it down, so he won't freak out himself...' she had concluded long ago. Everyone else was freaking out about it! Really, Homeworld had been  _thrilled_  at seeing Pink return. They had had a sort of re-inauguration speech, where Earth had been invited too; well, Beach City had been invited- close enough. Connie had seen some of the Quartzes  _break down crying_  upon seeing their Diamond return.

He simply grunted, not really seeing it. He was  _just Steven_ , not a big, scary Diamond! 

"No, just accept it... A-Also, did you tell his parents yet about what you are?" she carefully added.

"...No? They will take back their permission then!" he shook his head vehemently.

"You should tell them, probably together with Lars. I mean, things aren't looking  _good_. I think he won't mate with you before coming home, honestly. H-He'll take like two more weeks for that!" she reminded him of Lars coming soon. 

He pouted again "I hope we'll mate earlier than that. I can hardly hug him without...  _you know_... getting excited" 

"EEEW! G-Gross, don't tell  _me_  that!" she blushed and hit him a few times. 

~~Later That Day~~

Steven visited Lars like almost every other day, having his hopes up. He climbed out of the hair, instantly on his boyfriend and hugging him for dear life. "Mmh- I missed you so much!" he happily groaned, feeling relaxation seeping into him. The craving to be near his intended mate was  _unbearable_ and it could only be appeased by holding the other. He didn't even care, that he was sitting on the other's lap right now. He needed to be  _close_.

"Woah, slow down there,  _tiger_. I missed you- ah, too, but you're squishing me," Lars whined at having his middle compressed by the Diamond's strength. Steven had only gotten stronger, since he 'become' a Diamond. He also grew quite a bit, 'not liking being small, since it repressed him.' "A-Also, you so me yesterday!" he snorted and pushed the other away a little. Steven had very little control, when it came to Lars. 

Next thing he knew, Lars was being pressed more into his chair and had his lips pried apart by a tongue. He growled a little, not really liking to do this in public. He was helpless to it however, only weakly gripping at Steven's t-shirt, as his mouth was being claimed. He was soon reduced to a mewling mess, as Steven assaulted his neck, sucking on it. "Ah! S-Steven,  _n-no_ biting! S-Stop, you idiot!" he squirmed uselessly and pushed at the other. His soulmate didn't seem to have heard that, lost in it, as the zombie felt his hardness against him. "G-Guys? Help!" he wailed at his crew, not being able to fight him off. This wasn't the first time, this had happened...

Fluorite came over slowly and gripped at Steven with a few arms, prying him of and securing him. "Of course, captain Lars!" she declared proudly. 

"L-Let go! I need to-" Steven whined, not liking this. 

Lars chuckled "Did you forget to take the pills again? Why are you so desperate?  _I_ am feeling mostly normal." He took his and everything was fine. He felt a little clingy perhaps and he missed the other, but it was fine in the end.

Rhodonite however elaborated "It's perfectly normal for gems to get a little...  _needy_. It only gets worse with a higher rank, too." 

Lars nodded in understanding and Fluorite let go of Steven, when he had calmed down somewhat. The latter approached him like a kicked puppy, pouting a little. He gave permission for the Diamond to sit down with him, but only, if he kept his hands to himself. That was pretty hard though and he soon felt a hand disappearing beneath his shirt. " _Steven_ ," he warned angrily.

The gem-hybrid however had other ideas and whispered into his ear "Come  _on_... Let's go downstairs and mate~"

"No. I will mate with you on Earth, it's final," he shook his head vehemently. He didn't dare go to the room downstairs; too many bad memories stemmed from it. He was also a little scared of mating, honestly. Every time they had become intimate, something horrible had happened! And Steven was  _a Diamond_...

"Oh,  _please_! T-That's like two more weeks and where will we even do it?" the younger boy tried to convince him to do it now, gently tracing along the hem of his trousers.

The zombie however insisted on it and swatted his hand away. "No! We'll do it my way at  _my_ place. And if  _you_ don't get your hands off of me, I'll turn off the air in here again!" he cruelly threatened him.

"But Lars!" he kissed his neck, trying to get him going.

"No, you dense moron! You know what? Until I arrive on Earth, I don't wanna see you here again! Y-You can't  _not_ molest me for five whole seconds!" he growled at the attack to his throat.

"T-That's unfair!" Steven looked at him in betrayal.

He pursed his lips "Yes, it is! You  want a piece of this body, so we'll do it my way! Now, hush and go home." He knew it was evil, but he wanted their mating to go right this time. Knowing he had been defeated and could hardly  _force_ Lars, Steven sighed and went inside the hair. 

~~Two Weeks Later~~

Everyone was gathered at the beach, excitedly waiting for the Off-Colors and their leader. 

Only Steven was pissed off.

'How  _dare_ he defy a Diamond? And his soulmate? I'll show Lars, just what I think of it...' he emitted a deep growl, as the Sun Incinerator approached. 'Perhaps Lars forgot, just  _who_ he is facing here?' he angrily concluded. 'I'll teach him to  _obey_...' the growling continued. Okay, Steven might have been overreacting a little, but he was  _starved_ of physical affection from his soulmate right now. The little tease was even proudly swaggering out of his ship, while his parents ran up to him. 'You won't be this confident, when I make you beg for me to fuck you...' he huffed angrily and didn't approach his soulmate. 

He watched on, as his beloved greeted his friends and family and introduced the Off-Colors to everyone. He sometimes gave him confused glances, as Steven was coolly leaning against one of the temple's hands. 'I'll have him come  _to me_ , not the other way around...' he thought smugly. It didn't quite work out however, as Lars turned to walk away with his parents. 'What?! No-  _Come to me_!' he whined and embarrassedly made his way to his mate.

"There you are! Why didn't you come?" Lars cocked his head, before leaning down to kiss the other to his dad's dismay. He still was wary of Steven.

"I uh... wanted you to greet the others first," he awkwardly lied and Lars thanked him. "W-Where are you going, by the way?" he then asked in worry.

"...my home?" Lars regarded him funnily and added "But you can come with of course. T-That was kinda the plan, you know?" 

'Oh right. He wanted to do this at his place," he remembered. " _Sure_..." he told him, taking his hand. A few of their friends looked at them weirdly, probably not knowing, the mark had been restored. The touch calmed him down too, letting him come down from his sadistic thoughts towards his to-be-mate.

"Oh, that would be marvelous!" Martha grinned. She cooed then "You two really do look cute together... Steven, you could even stay for di-" she suddenly stopped. She noticed something out of place "-ner... Why uh... Why aren't you two marked? Didn't you...?"  

Lars shot him a death-glare and hissed "You didn't  _tell them_?!" 

"U-Uh... should I have? I-I thought it was unnecessary honestly..." he sheepishly replied, ducking his head a little. 

Lars whined in frustration " _Steven_ , no! I thought it was obvious, you should tell them! Mom, Dad... no, we didn't mate yet. There have been...  _complications_. But don't worry, we'll do it  _soon_." His parents looked at him in disbelief.

Dante became flustered "C-Complications?! W-What kind of complications?" Did it fail?

Lars nudged at Steven, so he would explain the whole dilemma. He did just so, explaining half of gem-history and -culture and why he wasn't a Quartz. It took so long, they already arrived at the Barriga's home and Martha was preparing food.

Dante looked at his son, who was sitting next to his soulmate at the kitchen's table. "Are you  _sure_ you wanna mate him? T-That's pretty...  _crazy,"_ he questioned him. He had found Steven to be weird before, but this? This was  _way_ out of his comfort zone.

"Yes, dad. It's a little scary, but I don't mind. I-I've been through enough shit and this is  _hardly_ the worst," Lars snorted and swatted a hand away beneath the table, that was  _dangerously_ close to his crotch. He firmly pressed it down on his thigh then, so it wouldn't stray again.

"But sweetie... He's a-an emperor! Doesn't that concern you at all?" his mom intervened, as she brought over some food.

The hand tried to fight his own, but he glared at his soulmate and it stopped. "A little, yeah. But it'll be fine, I'm sure," he shrugged it off and watched on, as the others ate. he didn't really have any hunger. The conversation continued in this fashion for a while, until the couple had enough of it. "We'll go upstairs now-" he declared.

"-to do what, son? Will he uh...  _stay the night_?" Dante's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He knew them having  _intercourse_ was inevitable, but still! He was concerned for his child!

The zombie gripped tighter at the other's hand, who then lay a possessive arm around his waist. "Obviously,  _yes_ ," he sheepishly said, hoping his dad wouldn't say anything embarrassing. Mr. Barriga was... he wasn't  _homophobic_ , but he probably would have preferred a woman for Lars. 

Dante grunted, not being very approving. He still sighed in defeat however and reminded "Okay... Just-  _be careful_. Universe, if my son gets  _hurt_ -"

"I'll be  _very_ careful and take good care of him" Steven vowed, but Lars' dad cringed a little. The two vanished and he worriedly rested his face in his hands.

"Oh honey... I'm sure it'll be fine!" Martha assured her own mate, patting his back. Soon they went to bed-

-and regretted having their room beneath Lars'  _greatly_. 

~~Upstairs~~

As soon as he had locked the door, Lars was painfully thrust into said door with a loud thud. His mouth was claimed greedily and his cape more or less  _torn off_. "S-Steven! B-Be careful..." he scolded the other and unbuttoned his shirt himself, so it wouldn't get destroyed by the hungry Diamond. The latter watched on, licking his lips, while more and more pink skin was revealed to him.

The shirt was soon tossed away, but Steven growled "The rest, too..." Lars got turned on by the husky voice of his soulmate and unbuttoned his trousers. This was far better than last time, since he wasn't this nervous about it. He stood naked against the door after a while, Steven nibbling at and groaning into his neck, while his to-be-mate was fully clothed. "Nngh- Undress, too..." he demanded with a moan and tugged at the other's t-shirt. 

"Not yet, sweetheart..." he didn't obliege and instead pushed Lars onto his bed. 

"H-Hey!" the other made, not knowing how to feel about the roughness of it. ' _I'll be very carefull_ \- Sure you will!' he thought with a scoff. His irritation transformed into mild confusion, as the Diamond didn't immediately ravish him, but pulled up his shirt. "Steven?" he asked insecurely, while being rather vulnerable. Suddenly Steven's gem glowed, as he pulled something out of it- a new trick, he had learned. Lars' eyes got wide, upon seeing a set of ropes "Woah, there! Y-You are  _so not_ going to tie me up with that! Nope! Put those things, where they came from!" He was a little kinky at times, but not  _this_ kinky.

Steven approached him however, snapping the black cloth menacingly. Not knowing, what to do, the zombie backed away into the head bord. With a loud squeak from the undead one, Steven suddenly sat atop his struggling form, abusing his supernatural strength. Sooner than he'd like to admit, he found his hands securely tied above his head, not budging at all. 

"S-Steven! U-Untie me!" he wriggled against it, not appreciating the direction, they were taking.

A hand slid down from his neck, over his chest and belly, before it teasingly messaged his inner thighs. "Sorry, baby, but you brought this upon yourself by making me wait so long..." the Diamond got just as cruel as Tiger Millionaire, kneading the pink flesh, but never touching the more sensitive organ near it. 

"Y-You dick! I-I just wanted to wait a little- It's n-not my problem, you're so horny all the time!" the teen angrily snarled, but tried to get some friction on his erection.

"Horny, huh? Well it's your fault for being such a  _tease..."_ Steven flashed his teeth and assaulted his neck, sucking dark purple hickeys into it and making him moan.

Lars still was coherent enough to defend his dignity though "T-Tease? Nngh... I didn't  _tease_ you!" He shouted, as he was bit for talking back again.

The gem then leaned in close to his ear, ghosting a hand over the other's erection "Oh? So moaning, while kissing and just  _looking_ this...  _delicious_ was an accident, huh? You little  _whore_ led me on over and over again..." The one below him eagerly bucked into his hand, enjoying this to his shame. "Even now you are so eager to be  _fucked by_ your daddy, hm?" he went on insulting him.

He didn't allow himself to answer that however, not wanting to give the Diamond that satisfaction. "Pff- As if  _you_ don't want to, you moron," he bit back with a smirk, but regretted it soon enough. With a whimper, his poor dick was suddenly being squeezed. 

"Now, now... Don't talk like that to me or have you  _forgotten_ , who I am?" Pink Diamond growled. As he got no answer, he squeezed a little harder "Answer me."

"Ah-  _P-Please_ , stop!" Lars begged him, as it was rather painful. 

"Not what I asked you," he cruelly snorted.

He sobbed a little, but shakily said "S-Sorry! Daddy..." His dick was left alone at that and received a few apologetic strokes, making him mewl.

"Good boy..." he cooed then, before leaning down to Lars' surprise. He licked at the head of the cock a little shyly, not having done this before. Soon though, he got a little braver and took in about half of it, while Lars tried to buck into him. He prevented it however, staying in control and pushing the other down firmly. 

" _Please_... more!" the zombie whined, wanting Steven to take him whole. The other tried, but it was a little too much for him. So he settled for gently sucking the other off, while jerking the other half of him. He noticed the other almost coming though, his moans and calls for him getting more frequent. So he stopped, which immediately got him a reaction "N-No! K-Keep going! I w-was so, nngh,  _close_!"

As a slight warning, he squeezed the cock again "Why so demanding? Don't you have any manners, baby?" He let go of the throbbing, leaking organ again, before pulling something else out of his gem. He lubed up his fingers with lewd, wet noises, which made Lars lift his head excitedly. 

'Finally... perhaps this will be nice after all' he concluded a little too quickly. Despite being increasingly ashamed of it, he spread his legs in anticipation. The gem chuckled and pushed them apart even further, before letting a finger tease the tight entrance. Not entering however, only circling around it. After some time, Lars seemed to get annoyed with it and groaned "Go on with it alrea- ah!" He had to stop though, as he was tortured again. As the cruel emperor didn't let go, he finally whined " _Please_ , please s-stop..." He was obliged, but the finger still only teased, even strayed away further. So he blushed and willingly degraded himself "P-Please, f-fuck me d-daddy~"

"Hm, perhaps you are smarter than I thought," the hybrid cruelly told him, before harshly thrusting in one finger, starting to prepare the other. He brushed against the other's prostate a few times, but deliberately missed it often, making Lars desperately thrust back on him in different angles. "Aw~ So needy, hm?" he purred, inserting his second finger.

"Y-Yes...  _daddy_ ," he quickly added the nickname, as a hand hovered above him again. 'This is taking so  _long_...' he whined internally. He needed  _more_ than this! He needed the other's cock to fill  him up and he needed to be  _bitten_... But he could do nothing, but endure the torture and fight against his restraints. The warm fingers were then pulled out to his joy and he anticipated the other to proceed now. Perhaps he even spread his legs wider and called "Daddy,  _please~"_

The  _daddy_ however tsked and stroked along his lower belly "Not yet. As much as I'd like to  _knot you_ , you made me wait  _so_ very long... A bit more time won't hurt and you still need to be punished for it."

"B-But w-wasn't that the punishment?! ...daddy?" he got increasingly concerned at this, not knowing, what to expect.

"This was foreplay,  _sweetheart,"_ the gem grinned at him evilly, before pulling more stuff out of his gem. At first he pulled out some sort of hair-tie, Lars thought. When the object was put around the base of his dick however, he realized it wasn't that. Next a small vibrator was lubed up and roughly shoved into him, making him shout a little. It was probably bigger than himself and violently buzzed, as Steven pressed the button on some kind of remote. "And now-" he let it buzz for a while, jerking of Lars and making him come rather quickly, soiling his stomach, "-I'll take a  _long, nice_ shower." He waved at his soulmate, vanishing in his bathroom.

"S-Steven!" he angrily shouted, writhing on the bed, as he still rode out his orgasm. The device only seemed to vibrate more harshly then, being a little painful for his over-stimulated body. 

~~Downstairs~~

"...S-Steven, mmh, please!" 

"Agh! N-No!"

" _Daddy~"  
_

Dante pressed his pillow against his ears, trying to block out the horrendous noises of his son. "I'm going to kill that boy," he groaned in frustration.

"L-Laramie?" Martha worriedly asked, trying her best to ignore the desperate moaning from upstairs herself.

"No, Universe," he growled. 

~~Upstairs~~

" _Please_ \- ah...! C-Come back, daddy~" Lars was full on sobbing by now, pleading for Steven to come back. He was painfully hard again, but had a little problem with coming hands-free. He had even tried to turn around in his bindings, but that had almost dislocated his shoulders. So he could do nothing, but moan and beg, waiting for Steven. The latter however was still under the shower, happily humming and occasionally pressing different buttons on the remote. Tears ran down his cheeks, while he pulled against the ropes to no avail and the vibrator deep inside of him got more violent. 

"Daddy, please~" he begged again loudly. He was in a kind of dilemma- Steven might return sooner, if he begged him, but his parents would probably hear him... In his mind clouded by lust however, he ignored the latter fact. His cock had already taken on an angry, purple color in parts, which couldn't be healthy. 

He shakily pleaded again, as the vibrator had stopped completely "I-I'm s-sorry for ma-making you wait, daddy!" He was so ashamed by it, but he had learned. He'd never deny Steven his cravings again, so he wouldn't be punished again. And he'd behave and call him that stupid name as well!

The shower suddenly turned off and after a few, painful minutes, the Diamond approached him.  _Stark naked_ , but smelling like Lars, as he had used his stuff to shower. He  _loved_ it more, than he dared to admit. Steven inspected his cock a little, asking "You learned your lesson, baby?"

He sniffled, tears still coating his cheeks "Y-Yes, daddy..." Steven then put a chaste kiss on his forehead, entirely too innocent for what they were doing. He was gently stroked to a second completion with two firm motions and the artificial dick was pulled out of him with a lewd, slick sound. He was  _done_. He couldn't go on- he was entirely spend. The toy was tossed to the side and he dazedly noticed, his legs were pulled up and apart. "P-Please, I can't, daddy..." he sobbed desperately. He'd  _die_ if he came again.

"No, you can... And if not, it's not my problem, baby. Just be a good baby for me, okay?" his merciless soulmate whispered into his ear, before pulling up his butt a little. The Diamond entered the other a little too quickly, making him scream in pain. He was pretty open, gaping even, but the Diamond's dick was taller than that toy-

"D-Did you shape-shif-"

" _Yes_... Or rather  _no_. I shape-shifted last time, but you should be able to take it now~" the gem chuckled darkly at the accusation. Lars wasn't really, not getting much pleasure from this and his dick limply flopping around. The Diamond didn't really care though, as the zombie had brought this upon himself. He roughly gripped at the other's thighs, fucking into him at a brutal pace. He didn't like how apathetically the other was behaving though and stroked the other with copious amounts of lube. "Mmh~ Come on, you like being taken this hard and  _good_ by me, don't you?" he purred. The other nodded, his dick exhaustedly stirring to life. "You like being  _bred_ by your mate?" was spat out next.

"Y-Yes, more, daddy..." he whimpered, convinced he would die of shame tomorrow.

"You wanna get, nngh, marked by me? Show everyone, who you belong to?" Steven groaned, dangerously close to his neck.

"Y-Yes, daddy, make me yours," he turned his head to the side, baring his neck. After a few, loving kisses, he felt his skin being punctured beneath his chin and moaned hard. It felt awfully good, another orgasm washing over him. Hopefully his last  or he would pass out sooner or later. He felt their bond thickening, getting to experience Steven's pleasure somewhat. The other was pretty close himself he found out and soon pressed his own neck towards him. This time, Lars wasn't so scared of drawing blood. He hungrily bit down at the same spot, blood spilling into his mouth. Steven began shuddering over him, pumping his seed into him and-

'What is that?!' his eyes opened in shock, as Steven was somehow growing inside of him, while still bucking into him a little. The knot, Lars deduced, slipped in and out of him at first, but soon became stuck in him. He moaned wantonly, licking the last remainders of blood away, while getting accustomed to the feeling of being tied to the other. He got a little scared though, as Steven didn't seem to stop coming and he was getting impossibly fuller. "S-Steven?" he asked in fear.

"Hm?" the other tiredly asked, while taking care of his restraints, letting him free  _somewhat_. He was tied  _elsewhere_ now.

"W-When will it uh... s-stop?" he asked in fear, but felt a soothing emotion rush through him through the bond, that had been completed.

"Oh. Soon-ish; you won't  _burst_ ," he chuckled lightly, but was too tired to do much else. He simply collapsed on top of the other and hugged him, not being able to go anywhere. He still felt worry from the other and a beg to  _explain_ , so he appeased the other. "Told you it was a gem-thing. Although gems have female pronouns, they can take on male body parts for mating... They don't have to, but can," he yawned shortly. 

"...How long...?" the other whimpered, feeling slight discomfort from it. But it also felt kind of  _right_ to have that inside of him. 'I'm fucked up for life...' he solemnly thought.

Steven murmured something, just wanting to fall asleep "...don't know. Not longer than two..."

"TWO?! Minutes? Hours? D-Days? Two what, Steven?!" Lars swatted at the other's back to no avail, feeling the sleepiness seep through the bond. 'Well, it can't be minutes, it's been longer like that...  _Fuck_ , I'm  _tired_... Stupid bond...' he tried to fight it, but drifted of as well. 

~~Next Morning~~

'Two hours,' he was certain now, since the knot didn't tie them anymore. 'Thank the stars for that... How would I have explained my parents that?' he praised the celestial gods and shifted around a little. Steven had a death-grip on him however and he shook at him rather violently. "Wake up!" he demanded and it soon worked. He could feel confusion through the bond, Steven apparently not getting, where he was. He kissed his cute frown away however, softly reminding him of what had happened.

"...Morning, love~" he sleepily greeted his  _mate_ , but made no move to stand up.

"Steven, we'll miss  _breakfast_! A-And I kinda want to shower, too... It's uh...  _sticky_ ," he awkwardly noted. At the notion of food, Steven was wide-awake all of a sudden and sat up. Lars did so too, but painfully winced. 

"W-What's wrong?" the gem sheepishly asked him, feeling the discomfort himself.

"Pff, seriously? You pounded into me like a fucking caveman! It's a wonder, I don't bleed down there!" the zombie snapped a litte, but wasn't all that angry in the end. 

Steven apologized with a blush and kissed him, making his spit heal him. Next he pulled the other towards the shower-

"T-Together?!" Lars squeaked however.

He snorted at his sudden innocentness, although they both were completely naked. "Yeah? Why not?" he chuckled and pulled again. The zombie followed, although a little reluctant. It was actually quite nice however, the shower being a little cramped. He embraced his Diamond under it, kissing him softly, not meaning to go any further now. He let his hair be gently washed and the rest of him as well. After they finished and had had dried their hair for the most part, Lars thoughtfully eyed the scar on his neck. "Don't like it?" Steven jokingly teased, making the other become flustered.

"O-Of course I do! I'm so glad, it worked..." he defended himself and added quickly, that he never had any doubts. Steven could feel the honesty and thanked him, before they proceeded to go downstairs. On the middle of the staircase however, Lars suddenly stopped.

"Hm?" the Diamond cocked his head.

"Uh... My parents might have... uh...  _heard us yesterday_. J-Just as a warning," the zombie awkwardly stated and Steven's breath hitched in worry. They still had to make the walk of shame however and sit down at the kitchen's table. Dante more or less  _hid_ behind his newspaper. It was pretty  _awkward_. Martha brought Steven scrambled eggs and bacon nevertheless, before looking at her son's neck in interest. 

"Oh... so it uh...  _worked_?" she asked, although it was obvious.

Steven happily chirped "Yes and I couldn't be happier~" 

"Me neither," his mate answered and stole a sweet kiss. He was glad, things turned out so well in the end, although he hadn't been so sure about it at first. He still trusted the other, despite everything, that had happend. They  _both_ had messed up in the end, so it was fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! 
> 
> It might take some time until my next work, as school starts soon :( I can't update my works this fast anymore either, sorry guys :(
> 
>  
> 
> Also: Feel free to leave suggestions for new Steven/Lars fanfictions!


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